Top travel industry executives gathered at the White House on
Tuesday for the U.S. Travel Association's first face-to-face meeting with
President Donald Trump.
Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson, Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta and
Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian were among the Roosevelt Room attendees, as well as
executives from Universal, Enterprise, Wyndham, InterContinental Hotels Group
and other members of U.S. Travel's CEO Roundtable.
U.S. Travel said that President Trump and the industry
leaders discussed travel's "essential contributions to the U.S. economy
and job creation, and the importance of international inbound travel to trade
deficit reduction."
"Our discussion with the president was simple: a strong
flow of international business and leisure travelers into the U.S. reduces the
trade deficit and creates an outsize number of American jobs," U.S. Travel
CEO Roger Dow said in a statement.
Dow added that Trump was "receptive to the idea that
travel growth can be achieved without compromising security."
U.S. Travel said that among the policies discussed to help
improve inbound travel were expanding and enhancing secure visa policies,
supporting the renewal of Brand USA (the nation's destination marketing
organization), and transportation infrastructure.