Some leading hoteliers at last week’s New York University International Hospitality Industry conference had a blunt message for various levels of government in the U.S., ranging from local on up to federal: When it comes to international travel policies and airport operations, lead, follow or get out of the way.
While the executives acknowledged that many people are resuming pre-recession travel patterns, they added that other would-be travelers are discouraged by a combination of aging U.S. airport infrastructure that can ruin a trip before it begins and stringent Department of Homeland Security policies that prevent wealthy travelers from countries like China and Russia from getting travel visas to the U.S. in a timely fashion.
In his keynote to about 2,000 people gathered at the Marriott Marquis here, Loews Hotels Chairman Jonathan Tisch specifically cited two recent Frommer’s lists of the world’s “most beautiful” and “worst” airports to argue that more airport operations need to be privatized and taken out of the hands of public entities.

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