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The Why Tourism Matters public education campaign features advertisements in local media, public relations and community outreach and cooperative tourism industry communications directed to citizens and business and government leaders. View ad >>
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Nation's Top Tourism Proponent Visits Washington State
An Interview with Roger Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association
 Roger Dow has led the U.S. Travel Association since 2005. During that time, he's spearheaded nationwide campaigns that support the meetings industry, air travel service and security, improvement of non-immigrant Chinese Visa entry to the U.S. and bipartisan legislation establishing the first communications and promotion program aimed at increasing international travel to the U.S.
SCVB: As we celebrate National Travel & Tourism Week, what are the primary issues of concern for the national travel and tourism industry?
Roger Dow: Helping people understand what this business is all about is the focal point of the association's work. It is the foundation of our Why Travel Matters campaign and it speaks to travel's contributions to our economy, to businesses and to individuals.
On the international front, we are addressing opportunities from emerging travel markets, especially Brazil, China and India. We'll soon release a new blueprint that aims to increase U.S. travel exports and shines a light on these and other key inbound markets.
Other issues at the forefront include advocating for a better way to conduct air travel security screening at the nation's airports as well as tackling the mounting costs of taxes for travelers.
SCVB: The U.S. Travel Association is leading an increasingly strong tourism advocacy effort. Concurrently, tourism leaders here in Washington State have maintained an impressive grass roots advocacy campaign. At the national and local levels, we know that travel and tourism matter. Why does tourism advocacy matter, now and in the future?
Roger Dow: I think a statement by our industry-wide Power of Travel Coalition really sums this up best: Together We're Stronger. The united voices of thousands of travel workers matter especially when decisions are being made that can do us harm and when policies are established that we should all champion. It simply creates an unmatched impact in the halls of Congress, in the chambers of the statehouse and on the floor of city hall.
The work that Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau is doing with the Why Tourism Matters campaign is so impressive. I truly applaud your local efforts. The Tourism Ambassadors campaign has given a face to those involved in this industry and helped the industry coalesce around common themes. It's grounding the value of travel to Seattle's economic prosperity.
SCVB: In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Travel Promotion Act (TPA) following an industry-wide campaign led by you and the U.S. Travel Association. What does this mean for the industry's future?
Roger Dow: Prior to establishment last year of the Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP), the United States was one of the few countries in the world that did not have a nationally coordinated travel promotion program to attract international visitors. In comparison, other countries have been spending millions to compete for travelers that benefit their economies and the livelihoods of their citizens.
We are simply too vast and diverse of a nation not to publicize the breadth of incredible experiences available here – for both leisure and business purposes – and that's what the CTP is designed to do.
And, according to Oxford Economics, a well-executed marketing campaign will yield a strong ROI for America. We can expect 1.6 million new international visitors annually and $4 billion in new spending each year when the CTP is operating at its greatest impact scenario. That spending is expected to create and sustain 40,000 U.S. jobs as well.
SCVB: The TPA created the Corporation for Travel Promotion. What role will this entity play?
The U.S. Congress established the Corporation for Travel Promotion last year as a public-private partnership between the travel industry and the federal government. Specific plans of the Corporation are currently being formed, but it will market and promote the U.S. and help us compete for more international visitors.
That's especially important as our nation makes up for a "lost decade" of overseas travel which saw the U.S. gain only 1 percent growth in arrivals from overseas markets over the past 10 years, despite 60 million more people taking long-haul trips worldwide over the same period.
SCVB: Regarding the TPA, you've experienced some funding challenges in the past year. Here in the other Washington, our state tourism office has been cut from the 2011-2013 biennial budget and will close by June 30. Some predict the dawn of a new tourism funding paradigm in America. What do think?
Travel promotion funding is a challenge that's faced by state tourism offices nationwide. Collectively, states have lost $206 million in marketing power in two years ('07-'09 budget years). That's money that is needed to market to travelers and, more importantly, generate tax revenue and jobs locally.
Moving forward, I think we will see new models emerge for sustained funding of travel promotion. Those might mirror successful public-private partnership models, such as those used to market Florida and California.
In light of Washington state lawmakers' decision to defund the state tourism office, I applaud the efforts of industry leaders to form the Washington Tourism Alliance and carry on promotion of the Evergreen State. U.S. Travel will closely follow this issue and offer its support as you create an effective model that sustains state-level marketing.
SCVB: The U.S. Travel Association recently released a report on aviation security. What were some of the primary recommendations for improvement?
Among the most notable recommendations detailed in our report "A Better Way: Building a World-Class System for Aviation Security" are the creation of a trusted traveler program and a requirement that travelers be allowed to check at least one bag at no additional cost to the ticket price as a means to reduce the amount of luggage going through the security checkpoint.
Additionally, we called for authorization of TSA to control the entire security checkpoint, starting at the beginning of the security lines and ending after a traveler exits the screening area, and providing effective private sector input to DHS on aviation security.
I am proud of the work of the blue ribbon panel, led by former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, former Congressman Jim Turner and Sam Gilliland, president and chief executive officer of Sabre Holdings, and thank each member for their valuable input.
SCVB: The China tourism market holds enormous potential for many U.S. destinations, including Seattle and Washington State, our country's current non-immigrant Visa entry regulations make it extremely challenging for Chinese citizens to visit. What actions are you taking?
We are actively engaging the White House, Members of Congress, and federal agencies in efforts to focus greater attention on travel from China and to reform the visa process for Chinese visitors. Secretary Gary Locke has been an ally on this issue and, as former governor of Washington, understands what is at stake for Seattle and fellow destinations.
To give this important issue some context, in 2009 the average Chinese traveler spent nearly $7,000 on American products and services while visiting our country. That's 72 percent more than the average spending in the United States by all other overseas travelers. Unfortunately, only 735,000 of the 30 million Chinese nationals who traveled outside of mainland China last year visited the United States. (In contrast, approximately 2.6 million Chinese traveled to Western European countries during the same period).
A leading obstacle to maximizing Chinese visitors to the United States and improving our economy and American jobs is that our consular resources in China are not keeping pace with the growth in demand. Further complicating is the fact that a Chinese national must apply for a new United States visa every year.
We are pressing improvements in existing consular procedures in regard to visa issuance and encouraging federal leaders to engage the Chinese in negotiations about visa reciprocity, with the explicit goal of extending the duration.
The result will be a more effective and efficient visa process that will allow legitimate Chinese visitors to come here more often, more easily and more economically, and is a critical aspect of meeting the Obama Administration's goal of doubling exports over five years as defined in the president's National Export Initiative.
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