Stephen P. Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer of Choice Hotels International, Inc. has been named National Chairman of the U.S. Travel Association, the 1,500-member national organization representing every segment of the travel community.   Joyce, who has served as First Vice Chair of the non-profit organization, succeeds Caroline Beteta, President and CEO of the California Travel and Tourism Commission, who guided the organization during the past two years.

"I am honored to serve as National Chairman of U.S. Travel," said Joyce. "My chairmanship will be focused on leading U.S. Travel and our industry to new heights of relevance, significance, and impact. The concept of travel should be embraced by policymakers, opinion leaders, business leaders and consumers across the country. Our ultimate goal is to create an environment in which policymakers and opinion leaders better appreciate travel's benefits and capabilities; business leaders embrace travel's bottom line value; and individuals understand travel's wide-ranging benefits."

U.S. Travel has made tremendous strides during the past few years in addressing critical issues for the travel community, most notably in successfully pushing for legislation, the Travel Promotion Act, that was recently signed into law to create the first-ever U.S. promotion and communications program aimed at travelers around the world. The organization also spearheaded an industry-wide effort last year to counter threats to the industry by policymakers and opinion leaders who demonized business travel, especially meetings, incentive travel and trade show participation.

"Steve is fully engaged and committed to continuing the momentum we've created during recent years to give our industry a bigger voice with policymakers and the media," said Roger Dow, U.S. Travel's President and CEO. "Helping our leaders more fully understand why travel matters and the enormous benefit our industry provides to local communities will be a key focus in the years ahead."

For a full list of 2010 Officers, click here.