Speaking at the opening of this month's New York University
Hospitality Conference, longtime conference chair Jonathan Tisch urged the
nearly 2,000 hotel industry executives and representatives to push for
infrastructure improvements and other investments designed to promote international
travel to the United States. Tisch, whose many roles in the travel industry
include chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels, said infrastructure investment would
be "one of the travel industry's defining challenges over the next decade
or longer." Without full industry cooperation, he said, the United States
would be ill-equipped to handle an expected influx in international travel,
particularly as corporate travel becomes more global and countries such as
China relax rules restricting outbound travel. In an interview with BTN's Michael B. Baker Tisch elaborated
on his vision of industry involvement in easing barriers to international
travel.
How is the United
States falling behind when it comes to handling inbound international travel?
Millions and millions of people will be leaving their homes
for the first time because they have the economic ability to do that. Their
government reduced the restrictions placed on them to travel. Even though the
ability to travel has never been easier, the process is more stressful and less
convenient than ever. When you look at what the countries we compete with for
inbound international travelers are doing in terms of ensuring their travel
infrastructure is as new and efficient as possible, it really points to the
challenge we're going to have in our country unless we act on this issue. I
took a trip in late March to Australia and Hong Kong. To see new airports and
new roadways, and then come back to our country and realize that many of ours
are outdated and our highways and bridges are in very rough shape, it really
points to why we need to have this conversation.
Will you be focusing
on the NextGen air traffic control system overhaul as well?
Absolutely. This discussion needs to focus on roads, bridges
and on the aviation system, and NextGen needs to be passed by Congress. Also, I
give the president credit for trying the discussion of high-speed, intercity
rail. Sadly, many states haven't risen to the occasion by working with the
president on some of these projects.
How do you accomplish
this when budget cutting is the strategy endorsed by the majority in Congress?
Our industry came together as it's related to the need to
market ourselves as an international destination. We met with our elected officials
and, after many years of discussions, the Travel Promotion Act was passed. Now
we have the Corporation for Travel Promotion, and there's some $200 million a
year available to market the United States as a destination. We need to have that
same kind of conversation with the elected officials. Clearly, we're aware of
the budget constraints on the national, state and local level, but if our roads,
bridges and airports are falling apart, then not only travelers but goods and
services are not going to be able to make their way to the end user, and that'll
cause even a further decline in business, which clearly would result in less
tax dollars generated. This kind of discussion should be viewed as an
investment in our country, and for 20 years I've been trying to explain to our elected officials that, properly supported, travel and tourism and hotels still
are a vehicle for economic development and job creation. We're having so much
discussion about new construction; where there are vibrant markets, you can
build all these wonderful new properties. Hopefully, business is getting a
little bit better, but if people are frustrated by the hurdle of travel and
decide not to take a trip, then these new hotels and existing hotels are just
going to sit empty.
What other issues related
to international travel does the industry needs to focus on?
The visa issues and the difficulty of obtaining a visa is
very much still a challenge. It's important for our industry to continually
work with [the Department of] Homeland Security and the State Department to get
them to understand the ability to get a visa for an individual who lives in a
non-Visa Waiver Program country is vital to the vibrancy of the travel and
tourism industry.
What is the industry
doing to push these issues?
The U.S. Travel Association has done a good job of having
the forums needed for the CEOs to get together twice a year to have this
discussion. We can point to the Travel Promotion Act as a success and show what
happens when the industry does stick together with one voice. Hopefully, this
kind of discussion will lead to a movement where we work with our elected
officials.