Travel leaders from around the world reacted with cautious
optimism to the first election of an industry executive to the highest office
in the U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump's unexpected victory last week
found those leaders optimistically discounting much of his protectionist
rhetoric as campaign bluster. They focused instead on his hospitality and
gaming background, though still expressed concerns about his positions on Cuba
and inbound travelers.
"Mr. Trump demonstrated throughout his campaign that
travel and infrastructure issues have his attention, and we stand ready to
advise his administration on achieving his stated aims in these areas,"
said U.S. Travel Association CEO Roger Dow.
"We are encouraged that Mr. Trump's extensive business
and hospitality background -- not to mention that travel accounts for 10% of
all U.S. exports and creates jobs in every single congressional district --
will make him a ready and receptive ear for our agenda," Dow said.
U.S. Travel is the industry's most active lobbying arm.
The World Travel & Tourism Council extended its
congratulations to Trump and said, "His background in the hospitality and
leisure industry will have given him many insights into the importance of the
travel and tourism sector for generating jobs and growth."
Conspicuously absent from the post-election conversation was
Brand USA, whose mission is, in large part, to enhance the image of the U.S.
around the world. It did not respond to multiple requests for comment from
Travel Weekly.
ASTA executives said that based on the election results,
they did not foresee any change to the Society's ability to carry out its
mission.
"Trump winning the presidency is a big change and
definitely surprising to a lot of people," said Eben Peck, ASTA's senior
vice president of government and industry affairs. "But in terms of the makeup
of Congress, there was actually a surprisingly low amount of turnover,
considering that the theme this year was 'throw the bums out,' anti-incumbent,
anti-Washington. There are a number of members we've been working with closely
over the years -- including contributing to their campaigns through our
political action committee --who won reelection."
Tom Jenkins, CEO of the European Tour Operators Association,
was less optimistic and compared it to the vote in Great Britain to leave the
European Union.
"The whole civilized world is in shock," Jenkins
said. "Rather like Brexit, this vote has no immediate impact on tourism
other than the gains or losses that currency fluctuations provide. The wider
implication of what this will do to the service economy, which is the
foundation of tourism, is very much up for debate. We just don't know. I think
the implications of this vote are far more significant than what people are
going to do on their holiday."
'Time to put the campaign behind us'
Despite his being the first hotelier ever to run for
president, rather than embrace Trump during the campaign season, hotel
executives from Marriott International to Hilton Worldwide to Loews Hotels
denounced the protectionist rhetoric of his campaign as a threat to travel and
tourism.
While those executives were mum last week, Katherine Lugar,
CEO of the trade group American Hotel & Lodging Association, congratulated
Trump and said she looked forward to working with him and other government
officials "to advocate for policies that boost the economy, support
entrepreneurship and business growth and promote travel and tourism across the
United States. As we all take stock of the results today, it's now time to put
the campaign behind us and move forward together as a nation and focus on the
business of governing."
Deepak Ohri, CEO of Thailand-based Lebua Hotels, predicted
that the election of one of its own would be good for tourism.
"You have somebody who understands how people travel,
how difficult it is to bring people to a certain country and to fill up the
hotels, because he is in that business," Ohri said. "How the industry
as a whole takes advantage of that is to be seen."
Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald said Trump's business
background gave him the potential to be good for the cruise industry.
"On the surface, president Trump will be pro-business,"
Donald said at Travel Weekly's CruiseWorld event in Fort Lauderdale last week. "At
the same time, I hope he does the right thing internationally. People have to
be able to travel, and the sea lanes have to be open, and people have to be
welcoming to guests wherever they come from all around the world. We're a
mobile business. Most of our business is outside the U.S., so hopefully he'll
do all the things that are necessary to bring the world together."
A threat to Cuba tourism
As for Trump's October tweet that he would "reverse
Obama's executive orders and concessions toward Cuba until freedoms are
restored," Donald said he was "cautiously optimistic," and ASTA
specifically cited concerns that Trump might roll back steps to normalize
relations with the U.S.'s communist neighbor.
"We've got a growing number of members participating in
the Cuba travel market, and how quickly he moves on this, whether he moves on
this at all, it's really impossible to say," Peck said.
Meanwhile, Cuba experts said it was too soon to know if his
statement was anything more than campaign rhetoric.
William LeoGrande, an American University professor who has
written extensively on U.S.-Cuba relations, said, "Trump has been careful
not to spell out a Cuba policy in detail, saying simply that Obama did not make
a strong enough deal with Cuba and he would negotiate a better one. He also
said he wants to confer with Cuban-Americans before deciding on a policy. This
suggests that Trump is open to continuing a diplomatic dialogue with Cuba, at
least on issues that serve U.S. interests. But it is too early to tell which of
these two positions will prevail: a return to the cold war policy of hostility
or a policy of diplomatic dialogue."
Tom Popper, president of Insight Cuba, was optimistic,
calling Trump's campaign promises "a perennial election-year necessity
when addressing south Florida for any Republican presidential candidate."
Popper added: "The growth in U.S. tourism to Cuba has
had a positive effect on the U.S. travel industry, including travel agents,
tour operators and other providers of service. The president-elect's previous
indication that he favored engagement in Cuba would indicate that any significant
change is unlikely."
Greg Geronemus, co-CEO of New York-based SmarTours, was less
optimistic.
"I'm hopeful that president-elect Trump will do the
right thing," Geronemus said. "But I'll also add, if you really want
to go to Cuba, go soon."
Another position that puts Trump at odds with much of the
industry is his call to eliminate the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which allows
vetted citizens of member countries to enter the U.S. without a visa for 90
days or less. Trump told Fox News in March, "It's time to stop that,
absolutely," although he has also expressed support for including Poland
in the VWP, which would amount to an expansion of the program.
Jonathan Grella, U.S. Travel's executive vice president for
public affairs, said, "Sound bites from the campaign trail have a way of
feeling different once in office. We look forward to ongoing dialogue with the
administration."
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Michelle Baran, Jamie Biesiada, Danny King and Tom
Stieghorst contributed to this report.