Discussing the impact of any US president’s administration on the travel industry typically doesn’t warrant a panel focus at a tourism industry conference.
But the Trump Administration, with its travel ban policies, talk of building a wall with Mexico and reinstatement of travel and business restrictions on and with Cuba, is not archetypal of US governments in modern history.
So at the 2017 Phocuswright Conference in Fort Lauderdale, US Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow along with Gloria Guevara Manzo, president of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Mike Premo, president and CEO of the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), and Chris Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA took part in Executive Roundtable: Travel in the Age of Trump.
In fact, the participants treaded lightly on the topic of Trump’s direct impact on US travel, with Dow pointing out that although much of the US media may want to lay waning visitor numbers entirely at the President’s feet, “there is a factor there.”
Long-haul travel is up, but Dow expressed concern over the US piece of that pie drifting downward as Australia, Canada and China benefit. He says:
“America is closed to terrorists and wide open to everyone else.
“The Administration is getting the first part right –and security and travel aren’t mutually exclusive—but they’re obsessed with security.”
Premo, too, noted that outbound travel is up almost 7% in 2017, adding
“There are definitely pockets where maybe Trump policies are having an impact.”
But Manzo and Thompson had different takes.
Manzo feels “there’s growth everywhere,” citing 4% in global growth in the first quarter of 2017 and 8% in the second quarter, based on the WTTC’s monitoring of 185 countries.
Having served for two years as Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism, Manzo also highlighted the increase in Mexican visitors to Canada, but not without attributing it, in part, to the Canadian government’s decision last year to lift visa requirements for Mexican travelers and the strength of the US dollar.
However, she agreed with the point Thompson made about the current perception of travel to the US differing from the reality, saying:
“Perception is a big thing. –You don’t want to feel unwelcome, but once you’re here in the US, you do feel welcomed.”
Thompson agreed with Dow that US visitor numbers are down slightly, but expressed a certain willingness to seek détente with the current administration as he stated that numbers were also down before Trump took office.
“We’ve had record spend, with month-over-month increases,” he said.
The Brand USA head also weighed in on October’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, particularly as it concerns security issues:
“Given what happened, something has to be addressed, but you can’t take it too far.”
Yet, Thompson also told the Phocuswright audience that random acts of violence are no more prevalent in the US than in any other part of the world.
Dow was likeminded as far as overreacting to increased security measures having the opposite of the intended effect, but squarely placed responsibility on the shoulders of the hotel industry when he said
“Hotels are the only business in the world where, for a $5 tip, you can get someone to deliver weapons to your room.”
Premo’s contribution was more solution-oriented as he focused on the aftermath for Las Vegas and its many travel-driven businesses; public-private partnerships dedicated to contingency plans that can be deployed immediately after such an incident could help the destination to recover more quickly.
If there was a single point that all four panelists agreed on, it was the travel and tourism industry’s global role as a source of employment and new jobs.
So when moderator Seema Mody, CNBC anchor and global markets reporter, asked each panelist what they would tell the Trump administration about travel and tourism in a single sentence, Premo concisely advised:
“It’s a big market, don’t mess it up.”
Trump slump or big chill - how travel bans are playing out in travel distribution
Image from Isaac Hepworth on Github