What Happens When Travel Meets Politics and Global Unrest: 5 Podcast Takeaways
Skift Take
If the U.S. wants to be competitive in the global tourism industry, it has some catching up to do.
We looked at political trends for a recent episode of the Skift Podcast, which explored the role of the U.S. government in promoting or discouraging tourism, both domestic and international.
Our guest was Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. He sat down with Skift podcast host Hannah Sampson in New York City at the site of the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, where he was a speaker.
Here are five takeaways from the conversation:
The “lost decade of tourism” is over and the U.S. is bouncing back.
The U.S. is now, slowly but surely, reclaiming the market share it lost in the tourism industry between 2000 and 2010.
“We were sleeping, we lost 37% of our market share. The rest of the world discovered this darling we call travel and tourism, and everybody was saying, ‘Come to China,’ ‘Come to Thailand,’ ‘Come to the Caribbean,’” explains Dow. “We were putting up all sorts of barriers to keep people away. After September 11th, we did all the things that made sense,
