The United States is about to get a national music tourism strategy after the House of Representatives voted unanimously on Tuesday night to adopt the Senate version of the American Music Tourism Act.

The bill now goes to the President to be signed, and it directs the National Travel and Tourism Office, which sits inside the Department of Commerce, to promote domestic and international travel to American music festivals, concert venues and other music attractions. It also widens the office’s existing sports and recreation brief so that promoting international visitation to those events is part of the job. The office must report to Congress within a year of the bill becoming law, and every two years after that.

The bill has been a long time coming. A version of it was in a draft federal funding package late in Joe Biden’s term before being cut from the final continuing resolution, and the current version went into the House in April 2025 with a Senate companion passing a few weeks later. The House took more than a year to agree to it.

“Independent venues and festivals are the lifeblood of local communities, not just as cultural hubs but as powerful engines of economic activity,” National Independent Venue Association executive director Stephen Parker said. “Fans travel for them. They book hotels, fill restaurants, and shop on Main Street because a show is happening that night. The American Music Tourism Act is a jobs bill.”

The bill was sponsored by Senators Marsha Blackburn and John Hickenlooper, and Representatives Diana Harshbarger and Nanette Barragán, two Republicans and two Democrats.

Australia has plenty of events that bring significant tourism outcomes, including the ground-breaking Queensland Music Festival Queensland Music Trails project and events such as the Airlie Beach Music Festival, that the ALMBC will be attending to support later in 2026.