US tourism faces hurdles to inbound travel

LOS ANGELES—President Obama’s recent travel initiative will provide a much-needed boost to U.S. travel, but the work doesn’t end there. For the hotel industry to take advantage of this, its members must actively assert their presence on the increasingly competitive world stage, according to leaders from three travel associations.

Jim Evans

“It’s important for us to make sure that we unite … because it’s important to our industry that we all got involved to make sure this Brand USA concept really works,” said Jim Evans, CEO of Brand USA, during the closing day at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit.

Brand USA, which was created as a result of President Obama signing the Travel Promotion Act in 2009, aims to promote the U.S. to visitors across the globe.

The organization’s official launch in November came not a moment too soon, Evans said. After a “lost decade” in which the U.S. travel industry’s share of worldwide travel dropped from 17% in 2000 to 12.4% in 2011, it’s more important than ever to get the U.S. back on the minds of consumers.

That’s a tall order, said David Scowsill, president and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council. Emerging markets such as China and India will take the lion’s share of the growing travel market. Of the projected 2 billion middle-class consumers coming into the marketplace during the next 10 years, 1.5 billion are in China and India alone, he said.

“The U.S. is going to lose out on market share … and it’s going to get worse,” he said.

While Scowsill said President Obama’s announcement certainly is a step in the right direction, there’s still doubt as to where his plans will come to fruition.


“What worries me is this is a long time coming, and he may not be around by December,” he said of the pending presidential election in November. “… In my view, it’s just the first step, and there’s more hard work to go. If the administration changes, you’ve got a whole new re-education process with the new president.”

But Evans and Jim Abrahamson, who is the second vice chair for the U.S. Travel Association, maintained their optimistic outlook.

“We are very proud of this day, that (President Obama is) now focused on it,” said Abrahamson, who also is president and CEO of Interstate Hotels & Resorts. “He understand that this isn’t just a travel issue … this is an economic issue for the U.S. This is a job-creation program.’

Inbound travel to the U.S. contributed US$134 billion in U.S. exports to the country’s economy during 2010 alone.

If the administration holds true on its efforts to increase visa processing, expand the Visa Waiver Program and expand and make permanent the global entry program, among other initiatives, tourist spending could create 1.3 million jobs by 2020, Abrahamson said.

But to reach those numbers the industry has to work together, Evans said.

“It’s important for us now to unite and compete like we never have before. We have to sell America, not just the idea of America … but we have to sell the destination on all the possibilities that we offer business travelers, all the possibilities that we offer families and leisure travelers,” he said.

Evans called upon attendees and the hotel industry in general to contribute to Brand USA’s market fund or in-kind donations. He vowed, in turn, to keep transparency about donors return on investment.