industry chiefs fear an overreaction by governments. Ian Taylor reports from Dallas
US industry fears ‘overreaction’ as Obama term ends
There is growing US industry alarm about the imminent end of President Obama’s term in office, the impact of a new Washington administration and an “overreaction to terror”.
Marriott International president and chief executive Arne Sorenson warned of “perhaps the greatest threat to international travel”, telling the WTTC summit: “Paris and Brussels have given rise to an emotion to lock doors. We have a candidate for president in the US who wants to build a wall.” Hilton Worldwide president and chief executive Chris Nassetta agreed, saying: “Fearmongering is being used to tap into political anger.” Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has declared he will refuse US entry to Muslims and wall off the border with Mexico if elected president. Most speakers at the WTTC summit declined to
“Closing borders and jeopardising the freedom to travel is not the solution”
identify Trump by name but many expressed concern at the change of government in November. Richard Fain, chairman and
chief executive of Royal Caribbean Cruises, said: “There is a risk, with the change in administration and the threats to security, that there will be an overreaction. “It is much easier to convey a message of fear than of hope.” US Travel Association president and chief executive Roger Dow said: “Rhetoric can really hurt our industry and hurt our economy. We need the next administration to understand the contribution this industry makes.” Dow added: “When Barack
SORENSON: ‘Recent attacks have given rise to emotion to lock doors’
Obama came to the presidency he didn’t really understand travel and tourism, but we sat with him and said ‘We’re going to grow travel and tourism’.” WTTC president and chief
executive David Scowsill told the summit: “We have to resist an overreaction. Closing borders and jeopardising the freedom to travel is not the solution.”
WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards winners revealed
A carbon calculator for tour operators and travel agents won the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Innovation Award. The Carmacal calculator,
developed by Dutch trade association the ANVR, allows businesses to calculate the total carbon footprint of a holiday. The Environment Award
went to the Botswana Rhino Conservation Project of Wilderness Safaris, which reintroduced black and white rhinos to the country. Lead awards judge Graham Miller of the University of Surrey said the project “rescued both species from extinction in Botswana”. The Community Award
went to ecotourism project Expediciones Sierra Norte of Mexico. Parkstad Limburg of the Netherlands, a tourism region created in a former coal-mining district, won the Tourism for Tomorrow Destination Award. The People Award went to
the UK’s Youth Career Initiative, a training programme for unemployed youth run in partnership with 11 hotel firms. › More on the winners:
wttc.org/ tourism-for-tomorrow-awards
‘Artificial intelligence will hit like a meteorite’
Big data and artificial intelligence will dominate travel technology, industry experts predict. Barry Diller, chairman of Expedia and of media
company IAC, told the WTTC summit: “The issue now is management of big data and machine learning. You need aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) to help you manage big data.” Diller warned: “We’re dealing with something that in 20, 30, 40 years will be like a meteorite hitting the planet.” Darron Huston, Priceline Group president and
DILLER: ‘You need aspects of AI to help manage big data’
chief executive, agreed, saying: “AI and big data are where it is at. If you can figure a way to make use of your data and your scale, you can outweigh
any smaller [competitor].” But Huston said: “As an industry we need to be better at dealing with private data.” Expedia president and chief executive Dara
Khosrowshahi also emphasised scale, saying: “We hope to make available to everyone in the world everything that is available in travel.” Expedia paid $3.9 billion for online vacation
rental operator HomeAway in December 2015. Khosrowshahi said: “We see alternative accommodation as a new category that is incredibly popular.” But he added: “We’ll take HomeAway from an advertising model to a transactional model.”
14 April 2016
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