“Make it easy to buy” is Rule #1 for any sales success: and in late March DiscoverAmerica.com will do just that for international travelers interested in visiting the United States.

Described as “America’s ultimate CVB” and designed to be a one-stop shop, with extensive information on American destinations (states and cities), activities, U.S. travel policies and trip booking options, the site is co-sponsored by the Travel Industry Association and Travelocity.

“With overseas travel to the U.S. down 11 percent since 2000, DiscoverAmerica.com is one step in creating a warm welcome and invitation to come and visit,” TIA’s Greg Staley told me. “For the first time, our travel policies, destination and activity information, and booking opportunities will be housed on an official U.S. travel and tourism Web site.”

Developed through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, the site will reach the top five inbound markets to the U.S. which account for about 75 percent or 37 million international visitors to the U.S. each year. Information will be available in English for consumers in the UK and Canada, and will be fully translated into French, German, Japanese and Spanish for consumers in Canada, Germany, Japan, and Mexico.

No question, it’s a wonderful thing: and long overdue.

But in each of those target countries - and most others around the world – there is an official national tourist office that fulfills the role that TIA and Travelocity have stepped in to fill, from our biggest market,  the UK to Australia and even Tasmania, Chile and Dubai.

For many years, this most pervasive of industries was the ONLY one in which the US had a favorable balance of payments. In the United States and around the world, the tourism industry is unquestionably one of the top job creators and generators of revenue (foreign exchange, in the case of international travelers, sorely needed at this time of a soft dollar).

In Miami, for example, one in every five households benefits in some way from the tourism industry – and many of those travelers are international.

Perhaps it’s time to ask the Presidential candidates their position on encouraging travel to the US – and re-establishing an official US National Tourist Office that would support one of our country’s most important industries at Cabinet level!

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