H.R. 617: American Music Tourism Act of 2025

The American Music Tourism Act of 2025 aims to enhance music tourism across the United States by making several key updates to existing travel and tourism legislation. Here’s a breakdown of what the bill stipulates:

Promoting Music-Related Travel

The bill seeks to amend the Visit America Act to:

• Identify Music Tourism Locations: The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism will be responsible for pinpointing key locations and events within the U.S. that are significant for music tourism. This includes both historic and modern attractions, such as museums, venues, and festivals.
• Encourage Domestic and International Music Tourism: The Act emphasizes the promotion of travel to these identified music-related sites for both U.S. residents and international travelers.

Facilitating Travel

The bill mandates the Assistant Secretary to:

• Enhance and facilitate large meetings, conferences, and exhibitions in the U.S. with a focus on music-related tourism.
• Highlight rural areas and culturally rich locations as potential hosts for such events to expand the tourism appeal.
• Promote international travel to both sports and recreation activities in the U.S. alongside music events.

Reporting Requirements

In terms of oversight, the bill establishes that:

• Reports regarding the progress made in promoting music tourism should be submitted to relevant congressional committees. The first report is to be submitted within one year of the bill's enactment, with subsequent reports every two years thereafter.

Definitions

The act also clarifies the definition of "music tourism" to mean:

• Traveling to visit music-related attractions, such as museums and performance venues.
• Traveling to attend music festivals, concerts, or other live music events.

Implementation of Changes

The updates proposed in the bill aim to create a structured approach to enhancing music tourism in the United States, through both strategic identification of key locations and enhancing the appeal of such destinations to both domestic and international tourists.

Relevant Companies

• AAPL (Apple Inc.): Potentially impacted due to its involvement in music streaming services and technologies that support music events and festivals.
• LYV (Live Nation Entertainment): This company, as a major player in concert promotion and venue operations, may see increased business opportunities as music tourism grows.
• SBUX (Starbucks): Could benefit from increased foot traffic near event venues, especially if it engages in partnerships with music events or festivals.