SAN DIEGO -- As President Obama struggles to create new jobs, the travel industry says it has a simple solution for Washington: Get behind the industry's long-standing efforts to increase international tourism.
Following last week's State of the Union address, the U.S. Travel Association applauded the competitiveness initiative and reiterated its view that the government should revise its visa and entry policies to attract more international visitors, increase the nation's positive trade balance and create hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
That message dominated the talk among hoteliers at the 10th annual Americas Lodging Investment Summit here last week. (Read Jeri Clausing's blog from the conference here.)
"If we were to double the number of people coming from just a few countries, we could create as much as a million jobs," Richard Friedman, president and CEO of real estate development, management and brokerage firm Carpenter and Company and a member of the President's Export Council, told delegates at the summit.
"There is no faster way to generate jobs than to increase travel."
The topic came up repeatedly during two days of panel discussions, where CEOs repeatedly referred to travel as an export that needs to be tapped.
Friedman, who participated in a panel on government affairs, said the country's share of inbound international travelers has dropped from the 30% range to about 10% since 9/11, as foreigners perceive the country to be in a lockdown of sorts, with its difficult visa and entry processes.
"There is a great deal the government can do without legislation to increase tourism," he said.
And he said he was optimistic that the combination of passage of the Travel Promotion Act, which creates a $100 million fund for promoting the U.S. as a tourism destination, and the return of former Commerce Secretary William Daley to Washington as Obama's new chief of staff will help the industry overcome those entry barriers that were erected post-9/11.
"I think the choice of Daley is a gigantic plus for our industry," Friedman said. "I've known him for 20 years. I hope to meet with him in the next few weeks. He is a smart, tough guy.
"What is needed is someone to sit down with Homeland Security, the State Department and Commerce and say, 'This game is over.' "
The U.S. Travel Association has been lobbying hard to ensure that travel is recognized as a leading export, and a U.S. travel analysis recently noted that an increase in overseas travel to the U.S. by an average of 15% each year between now and 2015, meeting the president's goal of doubling exports, would add $105 billion and 765,000 jobs to the U.S. economy.
The association has also warned repeatedly that the U.S. is losing international market share to other destinations.
The lodging industry has been a key supporter of the U.S. travel initiatives, and that is even more true today because Choice Hotels CEO Steve Joyce is also chairman of the U.S. Travel Association. He believes the industry is making strides in getting its voice heard.
"I think we are little more top of mind than we ever were," he said, noting, however, that travel still has a long way to go in Washington.
"No one would do anything related to guns without thinking through what the [National Rifle Association] would do, because there would be a tough price to pay for that. We are far from that position."
Joyce said hoteliers must help educate Congress about the industry and its potential.
"On the Hill they think it is only a bunch of low-paying jobs," he said, noting that the hotel industry is actually "an incredible opportunity for people to start at low level and basically let them rise to whatever level their abilities allow."
"These people really have the opportunity to live the American dream," he said.
Increasing inbound travel also came up during an industry leaders panel whose participants included Marriott President and COO Arne Sorenson, Starwood Hotels & Resorts CEO Frits van Paasschen and Best Western CEO David Kong.
Sorenson said the U.S. was getting only 2% of the huge, and growing, outbound market of Chinese travelers, and it needed to work to increase that percentage.
"Every one of us needs to make this case," Sorenson said. "Inbound travel to the U.S. is an export. It creates jobs, it creates tax revenue for state and localities under enormous pressure. It is really a simple thing for us to push for.
"We have been making this case for the last year about inbound travel. We have gotten an audience, polite responses, engaging conversation, but we still aren't hearing the administration saying, 'Here are our targets, let's find a way.'
"We need a government to say, 'We want to go after 6% to 8% of inbound travelers; how do we go about it?' " he added.
Working with governments to make it easier for travel around the world is also a key focus of the World Travel and Tourism Council, said David Scowsill, the organization's new president and CEO, who attended this year's conference.
Over the next year, Scowsill said, he would be traveling the world visiting governments to focus on development of public-private partnerships to promote travel. And the theme of the group's conference in Las Vegas in May will be "Powering Global Growth."