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U.S. Commerce Secretary Dodges on Details for How to Help Hotels Revive International Travel

Cameron Sperance
Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo addresses reporters

Photo Credit: Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo addresses reporters Wednesday April 7, 2021, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. The U.S. still isn't divulging any clear timelines to the hotel industry on when to expect international travel to reopen. Official White House Photo / Cameron Smith

Skift Take

U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo hears your concerns, hotel industry. But how about some action? Until U.S. authorities outline a clear path to reviving key global business travel corridors, many sleepless nights are ahead, wondering what happens after Labor Day when leisure travel dissipates.

Hotel owners desperately in need of business and international travelers didn't get any clear answers this week from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on when to plan for the return of those groups. Leisure travel is still fueling a bulk of the accelerating U.S. hotel recovery. But what happens with business travel post-Labor Day is “what keeps us awake at night,” American Hotel & Lodging Association CEO Chip Rogers said this week on a webinar with Raimondo. The commerce secretary didn’t reply with any specifics on sleep aids. “So I hear you, I hear you, and I want you to know that I am doing everything I can as an advocate to help reopen key travel corridors to business … internationally, like the U.S.-UK corridor and also just encouraging people to think about traveling again,” Raimondo said. “There are safe ways to travel, particularly for those who

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