By Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

May is World Trade Month. As we highlight the vast potential for jobs and growth through global commerce, we must not overlook one of America’s most valuable exports: foreign visitors to the United States.

Let me explain: When foreign visitors spend their money here, it’s counted as an export. What’s more, America’s trade relationships and economic prosperity depend on the ability of international businesspeople to travel to the United States to visit our manufacturing operations, inspect the products and services they are purchasing, and negotiate contracts.

The travel and tourism industry currently employs 7.4 million Americans and generates more than $700 billion in revenue. But those numbers could be a lot higher.

We’re currently losing travel-related jobs and squandering revenue because we’re not laying out the welcome mat for business travelers and tourists. Over the past 10 years, visitors have too often been met with travel hassles that have ultimately driven down the U.S. share of the international travel market.

Consider what’s at stake: If we could restore the U.S. share of the global overseas travel market to its 2000 level, we would create 1.3 million new jobs and generate $860 billion in economic activity—without costing taxpayers a dime.

So how do we promote the United States as a premier destination and draw business and leisure travelers to our shores? We need to pave the way for more of the world’s visitors to come to America hassle free without jeopardizing national security. And we need to eliminate bureaucratic barriers to inbound travel, such as visa processing delays and endless wait times at customs.

The U.S. Chamber is pushing for the Jobs Originating from Launching Travel (JOLT) Act, a new bill that could dramatically increase international travel to the United States. The legislation would expand the Visa Waiver Program, offer lower application fees during off-peak seasons, allow travelers to expedite visa applications for a fee, and encourage timely and predictable application reviews.

In testimony before Congress in March, I pledged the strong support of the business community for the JOLT Act and highlighted the economic imperative of adopting these reforms. Our lawmakers need to move forward with this commonsense legislation.

Let’s make sure that when tourists are ready to travel and businesspeople are ready to make deals, they come to the greatest travel destination of them all—the United States of America. Let’s take the buying power of the vast majority of the world’s customers and put it to work in our own economy.

International business is booming in Utah. This morning, Chamber Communication Director Marty Carpenter has a column on KSL.com looking at the impact of international exports on our local economy.

For the third consecutive year, Utah leads the entire U.S. in merchandise export growth over a five-year rolling period.

With Utah exports reaching an all-time high of over $18 billion, it is quite frequent that the Chamber hosts world leaders. Just a few days ago, the director general of Taiwan paid a visit to Chamber President Lane Beattie and World Trade Center President Lew Cramer. Both were presented with a gift–an extremely personalized gift.

You can see Beattie and his official bobble-head doll above. Cramer and his are below.

“This is better than an Oscar,” said Beattie.

A Council on Foreign Relations independent task force report released this week says trade policy has stalled because Americans don’t believe it is a benefit. More than half of Americans believe trade has hurt the U.S. And fewer than 20 percent believe it has helped.

We sat down with Lew Cramer, president and CEO of the World Trade Center Utah, to discuss the importance of free trade for the nation’s economy, the current state of pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Columbia, and why opponents of free trade are wrong.

Editor’s note: Remarks taken from Chamber President and CEO Lane Beattie welcomed members of the Chinese delegation during a luncheon in the Capitol Rotunda Saturday, July 16, 2011.

Distinguished guests and friends. We are honored to have you with us this evening and hope you have found your stay to be a pleasant one.

Since we welcomed the world to our city nearly a decade ago as the host of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, we have broadened our view. We have taken our place as a world city and we seek to build strong friendships and business partnerships with other countries.

China is a priority for Utah businesses. We see tremendous opportunity to benefit business in our state and business in China as we strengthen ties between the two.

We hear a great deal about growth in China. We are growing here. Utah is considered the shining star among states for our economic performance. We are growing and we are just getting started.

In Utah we want to get things done. We create policies that make it simpler for our local businesses to export to China and to utilize Chinese products.

We are business friendly and ready to grow.

Thank you for your friendship. We look forward to partnering with you for our mutual benefit.