Obama’s Re-election Is (Mostly) Good for Travel, Industry Groups Say
by Robin AmsterKey travel industry groups are optimistic about travel and tourism’s prospects following the re-election of a president they consider a uniquely strong advocate for the industry.
But the industry also faces a host of challenges, from new regulations to a sluggish economy, association executives told Travel Market Report.
“President Obama has energized the national government to an unprecedented level on tourism,” said Steve Richer, the NTA’s (National Tour Association) public affairs advocate.
A first for the industry
Terry Dale, president of the USTOA, also praised the president. “For the first time we’ve had a president and an administration that clearly talked about how critical the travel industry is to the national economy,” Dale told Travel Market Report.
U.S. Travel also had a positive assessment of President Obama’s commitment to travel and tourism.
But ASTA had a more restrained reaction to the president’s re-election.
Agent group sees pros & cons
“The election was a kind of mixed bag,” ASTA executive Eben Peck told Travel Market Report.
“Some of our priority issues Democrats tend to be more friendly toward, and vice versa with some issues for Republicans. In an industry as complicated and sprawling as ours, it’s hard to generalize,” said Peck, vice president of government affairs for ASTA.
“A lot of our go-to legislators on travel issues got re-elected, however,” Peck noted. “We didn’t lose any champions, and we have the potential to cultivate a few more.”
Pro: ancillary transparency
ASTA will be closely watching a series of issues crucial to travel agents, Peck said.
“No. 1 is the airline ancillary fee transparency issue under consideration by the DOT. ASTA’s position is that airlines should be required to share ancillary fee data in a transactional format through any of their sales channels.
“Under Obama, a proposed rule remains on track,” he said. “If Romney had won there would likely have been a moratorium on new rules for a year or more.”
Con: crackdown on ICs?
On the negative side for ASTA are signs of a Democratic crackdown on the use of independent contractors, said Peck.
There are 9,500 independent contractors currently working in the industry, and they are critical to agencies, said Peck, who noted that 61% of ASTA members work with at least one independent contractor.
Why would the government impose restrictions on ICs? “There’s a vague belief that independent contractors are a drain on the federal budget because they don’t pay payroll taxes,” Peck said.
“Hovering over everything is the state of the economy,” Peck said. “If the economy is healthy more people will travel, and that means more business for our members.”
Con: regulatory environment
At the USTOA, Dale cited concerns with the “continuation of a regulatory environment that is very aggressive. The DOT especially is very active and many times that has unintended consequences for our members.”
The DOT, for instance, is considering issuing service standards for travel sellers and requiring travel sellers to disclose to consumers any commissions received from airlines or tour operators, said Dale.
“In this pro-active regulatory environment, we have to be on our game and make sure they [government] understand how these issues impact USTOA members and our travel agent partners,” he said.
Pro: a seat at the grown-up’s table
In his praise for President Obama’s work on behalf of tourism, the NTA’s Richer pointed to cabinet-level initiatives.
“There’s never been this kind of focus on travel at the cabinet level – not just verbal recognition but actual hard work – like putting in more consular offices in Brazil, India and China so that people can visit the U.S.,” said Richer.
“We’ve done phenomenally well in the last four years,” Richer added. “It’s been a tourism renaissance in Washington for travel. We’ve graduated to a seat at the grown-up’s table.”
Pro: removing barriers
In a statement from U.S. Travel, president and CEO Roger Dow said, “President Obama’s re-election presents our industry with opportunities to continue removing barriers to travel.
“Regardless of your political persuasion, we must recognize that President Obama is unique in his commitment to travel and understanding of our extraordinary ability to create jobs.
“It was perhaps the President’s January 2012 speech in Orlando and the subsequent announcement of a National Travel and Tourism Strategy that best epitomized the fact that the Obama administration ‘gets it,’” Dow said.
Economic driver
According to the NTA’s Richer, the biggest issue of all is gaining recognition for the travel industry’s importance to the national economy.
“If you win that issue, a lot of other things follow. It influences the prism through which issues are viewed whether it’s a new air traffic control system, visa waiver, exit entry procedures or the global promotion of the travel industry,” he said.
Red & blue united?
Richer and U.S. Travel’s Dow stressed the bipartisan nature of the travel and tourism industry.
“In a deeply divided Washington, the travel industry is uniquely bipartisan,” Dow said in U.S. Travel’s statement.
“Tourism is not a partisan issue,” Richer agreed. “There isn’t a single red or blue state that doesn’t promote and enjoy tourism.”
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