- Appropriations and Federal Budget
- Banking and Securities
- Defense and National Security Policy
- Education
- Energy and Natural Resources
- Environmental Legislation and Regulation
- Foreign Government Representation
- Health Care
- Homeland Security
- International Trade and Investment
- Local/State Government Representation
- Public/Private Partnerships
- Regulatory Legislation and Rules
- Small Business
- Strategic Communications and Coalition Building
- Tax Policy
- Technology and Telecommunications
- Transportation
- Travel and Tourism
- Waste and Water Management
Travel and Tourism
BKSH has a unique and diverse travel and tourism practice led by Charles L. Merin. The firm’s travel and tourism practice is the largest of its kind in Washington, D.C. and without peer in the public policy advocacy community.
BKSH’s many travel and tourism-related clients are unified through the Travel Business Roundtable, a coalition that BKSH helped to found and for which it serves as an administering body. Although many members have divergent interests, this coalition and BKSH’s work has created greater cohesiveness among – and a more effective framework for unified lobbying on behalf of – this burgeoning industry.
Travel and Tourism Approach
At a time when America’s image abroad is deteriorating and travel to the U.S. is becoming more cumbersome, study after study has shown that the travel experience and the direct people-to-people contact that international travelers have when they make a trip to the United States vastly improves their opinions of our nation and our people. BKSH has worked to help this industry create a strong and focused voice on Capitol Hill in order to educate policymakers and elected officials about the social and economic benefits of travel and tourism.
Travel Business Roundtable
Comprised of more than 75 CEO-level members from every sector of the industry, the Travel Business Roundtable (TBR) has worked since 1995 to represent the interests of travel and tourism in Washington, D.C. The mission of TBR is to educate elected officials about the important economic and social contributions of the travel and tourism industry.
Major issues currently facing TBR include: the Rice-Chertoff Joint Vision for Secure Borders and Open Doors; revitalizing the tourism industry in the Katrina-devastated Gulf Coast; the need for immigration reform and a guest worker program; US-VISIT; the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI); and other visa and passport facilitation issues.
Beyond the clear benefits of furthering policies that will promote the vibrancy of the travel and tourism industry on a federal level, TBR provides access to the nation’s mayors through TBR’s close partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and exposure to a variety of state and local tourism officials. TBR continues to add state and local tourism offices and convention and visitors' bureaus to its growing membership roster.