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Roger Dow: ‘The US president has a tendency to talk fast, but he


is a businessman and a globalist


who understands our industry’


Dow vows to ‘bring around’ Trump’s views on tourism


USTA chief executive confident plan to axe budget for Brand USA can be stopped. Robin Searle reports from IPW trade show in Washington DC


US travel and tourism leaders have taken a defiant stance in the face of challenges to inbound travel and the country’s destination marketing efforts.


Speaking at the IPW conference


in Washington, US Travel Association chief executive Roger Dow said America needs to ensure it is seen as a welcoming destination, despite rhetoric from the White House and Donald Trump’s efforts to implement a “travel ban” on travellers from six mainly-Muslim countries. “We remain concerned that the


72 travelweekly.co.uk 15 June 2017


American brand is in trouble and we need to make sure that brand is not tarnished,” he said. “The administration must be loud and clear that America is closed to terror but open for business.” Dow told Travel Weekly the


USTA had taken significant steps in representing the industry’s cause to the Trump administration, and hopes to present a strong business case direct to the president as it did with Barack Obama. “This isn’t the first time we have


needed to change the perception of an administration,” he said.


“We have been down this road


before. This president has a tendency to talk fast, but he is a businessman and a globalist who understands our industry from personal experience. We will help bring him around.” Dow also hailed a speech by US


secretary of commerce Wilbur Ross, who insisted that the “dual mission” of national security and tourism promotion was achievable – despite a draft federal budget which proposes to axe marketing body Brand USA in order to direct more funding to customs and border protection. Ross told an audience at IPW:


“As President Trump said recently, the US is eager to form closer


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