The federal government needs to stop letting paranoia get in the way of international travel because it’s pushing business overseas, Thomas Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday to a group of 900 industry leaders in town for the Global Travel & Tourism Summit.
“It’s not all about the hospitality community. It’s also about the business community,” he said during a panel discussion. “If you want to deal with the Arab world, you go to London. … We need to get over the paranoia we’re involved in and start bringing people to the U.S.”
The two-day conference, hosted by an American city for the first time in its six-year history, offered government officials the chance to make nice with the travel and tourism community. Many in the industry say U.S. travel regulations in a post-Sept. 11 world have alienated would-be business travelers and tourists. Speakers include Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday morning.
While Americans spent about $862 billion on tourism in 2005 — more than any other country in the world — inbound travel continues to lose market share to countries around the world.
“Americans lose when we keep people out,” said Chertoff, who delivered the conference’s opening remarks. “We have to protect [our borders] in a way that doesn’t close them but keeps them safe and secure.”
Chertoff has been vocal in calling for “trusted traveler” programs, a system thatwould pre-screen travelers to speed up the security process at airports. But critics say the system is an invasion of privacy, often calling for personal data and fingerprints.
Hosting the conference shows that “they want to do better to facilitate the free flow of visitors to the United States,” said Vincent A. Wolfington, chairman of the World Travel & Tourism Council.
But the diminishing number of international travelers can’t be solely blamed on travel policies. The U.S. travel industry, Donohue said, doesn’t speak with a unified voice.
They’re “a very fragmented bunch,” he said. “They’ve been people that didn’t necessarily want to talk to each other.”
International tourism
» Washington is the eighth most-popular U.S. destination for international travelers.
» International travel to D.C. jumped 22 percent in 2004 to more than 1 million visitors.
» The tourism industry employs 8.4 percent of the city’s work force. That’s the fifth-highest tourism employment work force in the country.
