The Oklahoma Travel Industry Association, the Oklahoma Hotel & Lodging Association, the Chickasaw Nation, and members of the local community held a roundtable with former Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OK) at the Science Museum Oklahoma to thank the Congresswoman for her support of Brand USA and to provide insights into the travel industry’s economic impact in the area. Travel generated a record $9.6 billion in direct spending in Oklahoma by an estimated 21.5 million visitors in 2018. Tourism was the state’s third-largest export category, with a gross domestic product amounting to $3.6 billion. Between 2017 and 2018, the state’s travel industry GDP grew by 4.7 percent. The state’s travel industry also saw eight straight years of job growth, reaching 103,600 workers in 2018. Further, the $708 million in state and local taxes generated in 2018 represented $460 per Oklahoma household of taxes paid by visitors that fund core government functions, displacing taxes Oklahoma residents would otherwise have to pay. The group also advocated for several federal issues, including infrastructure funding, the JOLT Act (H.R.2187), and a delay in enforcing the REAL ID Act.