A model plan: U.S. tourism promoters see the visit Florida partnership as a blueprint for a...

Tourism officials in Washington, D.C., say they need a vigorous public-private partnership like the one that rescued Florida's biggest industry from the economic effects of Sept. 11 to ensure the global competitiveness of America's third-largest retail sector.

They want Visit Florida's help creating a national organization that promotes travel to all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the same way the non-profit company markets the Sunshine State. This fall, lawmakers will introduce legislation creating an entity modeled after Visit Florida. "The future of the U.