Skift Take
U.S. Travel is entering a new decade, and the trade group seems to be aware that maintaining growth for the next 10 years will require that it asserts itself politically more than ever before.
The U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that lobbies on behalf of the industry, gave its State of the Travel Industry address this week in Washington, D.C., asserting itself in a way rarely seen before.
In his address, president and CEO Roger Dow laid out an ambitious 10-year agenda for the nation's industry, ranging from trade and security to sustainability.
The travel industry, both in the U.S. and around the world, has generally struggled to define itself as one cohesive voice and one massive contribution to the economy. While that's somewhat understandable given its many disparate parts — from hotels and airlines to destination marketing — it also prevents the industry from positioning itself on the legislative agenda in perhaps the way it needs to, especially in the U.S. The address was just one sign that U.S. Travel is aware it needs to do that now more than ever, especially at a somewhat rocky time for the industry.
"Any way you cut it, the past 10 years have been the Comeback Decade for the travel industry, a decade defined by rising growth, surging prosperity and escalating influence," Dow said in his prepared remarks, referring to the last decade when travel recovered from 9/11 and the
