Travel Industry Ends 2017 Strong | Black Hills & Badlands - South Dakota

Travel Industry Ends 2017 Strong

The following article was originally shared by U.S. Travel Association President & CEO, Roger Dow, on December 22, 2017.

Updates from Washington, D.C.

Air Travel Survey: A new survey from Morning Consult finds that Americans believe flying is more frustrating than it was five years ago, citing airline fees, overall cost and airport hassles. Because of such headaches, Americans avoided 32 million air trips last year, costing the U.S. economy more than $24 billion in spending. There are steps Congress can take to improve the experience, starting with modernizing our aviation infrastructure.

Open Skies: Last week, the Trump administration announced that it will not renegotiate Open Skies agreements or freeze new routes to the United States from the Gulf carriers. Instead the administration will commence informal discussions between the U.S. and Qatar and the UAE outside the official framework of Open Skies.

Visa Waiver Program: We support the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's recent action to further strengthen the Visa Waiver Program. These reforms focus on fully implementing information-sharing arrangements, improving screening practices at airports and reducing overstay numbers. Throughout the year, the administration has shown an appreciation for the VWP as a smart security tool for facilitating travel.

This final check-in reflects many achievements we accomplished together this year. Thank you for all that you do to make our industry strong—I look forward to continuing our work in 2018.

Roger J. Dow
President and CEO