Cost of a passport comes with the tour, courtesy of Rick Steves

There’s no telling how far a passport might take you.

Rick Steves said he got his passport at age 14 to take a family trip to Germany, which led to more trips to Europe, which led to writing guidebooks and tour itineraries, which led to a travel company that takes about 10,000 Americans abroad every year. You get the idea.

The deal: To inspire more Americans to leave the country, Steves has launched a No Passport? No Problem! program that pledges to underwrite the cost of a first-time passport for anyone who signs up for one of his company’s tours.

“It’s a marketing gimmick in one sense, but I think it’s really accomplishing something,” says Steves, whose travel empire includes radio and TV travel-destination shows. “… The best souvenir is to bring home a new perspective.”

It’s hard to say exactly how many Americans have passports. In a briefing last year, Brenda Sprague, deputy assistant secretary of State for passport services, estimated that a third of the U.S. population have passports. And nearly 14 million passports and passport cards were issued in 2010, according to the State Department’s Passport Statistics Web page.

Tested: Here’s how Steves’ deal works for those he calls “travel virgins”: Sign up for any of his company’s 2011 tours by putting down a $400 deposit, and the first-first-time passport fees ($135 for an adult and $105 for a minor on the trip) will be deducted from the final tour balance. A family of four could really cash in.

You’ll need to send in a copy of your first-time 2011 passport and a dated purchase receipt to receive the discount.

So why did Steves take that first trip to Germany? To tour piano factories; his dad imported pianos.

Contact: Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door, (425) 771-8303