US travel industry leaders have tipped the inbound market to rebound as soon as 2023, despite current headwinds including the retention of pre-departure tests, rising inflation rates and a spate of recent gun attacks.
Speaking at the IPW conference in Orlando, outgoing US Travel Association chief executive Roger Dow described projections of a market recovery in 2024 or 2025 as “baloney”, adding: “This is a coiled spring – I think 2023 is going to be one of the biggest years we’ve ever had and it’s just around the corner.”
Chris Thompson, chief executive of Brand USA, also predicted a full recovery would arrive “sooner” than the 2024/2025 projections as he said he believed rising inflation was more likely to cause travellers to rein in holiday plans than drop them completely.
More: US targets 90 million international visitors a year by 2027
Thompson said Brand USA was supporting calls from the private sector and US Travel for the removal of pre-departure testing which he said was “hindering” the country’s ability to capitalise on returning demand.
And he said gun violence was an issue that “needed to be addressed” and added: “The headlines are concerning to travellers and they are concerning to us too.”
Grant Harris, assistant secretary of commerce for industry and analysis within the Biden administration, told media representatives the statistics on gun crime were “harrowing” but promised action was being taken and stressed how “motivated” the president was to address the issue.
Thompson said Brand USA would continue to address the issue of “perception versus reality” while Harris reiterated the administration’s commitment to supporting the travel industry, including $250 million of emergency funding for Brand USA and the launch of a National Travel & Tourism Strategy which targets 90 million visitors a year by 2027.
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More: US targets 90 million international visitors a year by 2027