Is US inbound tourism confidence jumping the gun?

by Graham McKenzie

Two weeks have elapsed since IPW (International Pow Wow) finished and the sunset on another very successful trade show for the US tourism industry.

I have said it before, and I don’t mind repeating myself, but IPW is easily the best travel trade show going. Tip of the hat to the US Travel Association and those individuals who take on the responsibility for organising alongside the host destination

This year was no different and being in Orlando it was likely that the major theme parks would be involved. Opening night and closing night at Disney and Universal was an immense success. When the parks are shut down just for delegates how could it be anything else? The show itself is run on strict lines with start times, lunch (which everybody goes to) and closing strictly adhered to.

This year, after the somewhat Covid subdued affair in Las Vegas, was a triumph of positivity, a desire to get things going and to get out and see the whole of America. Pride in local, pride in community, pride in difference, pride in quality seemed to be the order of the day.

Visit Orlando deserve a massive pat on the back for a successful show that will live long in the memory for those in attendance.

So on to 2023 and the excitement was visible when San Antonio revealed the plans for next year. The Alamo, riverwalk, local food and drink, caverns, Japanese tea gardens plus, no doubt, a few surprises along the way. My thoughts however turned to safety, and will we be safe? Six years almost to the day since the night club atrocity in Orlando and only a few weeks after the school shooting in Texas it was not an idle thought.

At the US Travel Association press conference, I asked my annual question which was ‘Are the USTA urging the government to do more on gun crime and the gun laws in America?’. The answer was similar to those in the past that everybody is concerned and desires greater safety especially from guns but perhaps the real issue was a crisis of mental health.

I would be the first one to acknowledge that in a post pandemic world mental ill health is more prevalent than ever before. The inescapable truth however is that a person with severe mental health issues is more likely to kill a lot of people if they have a gun than if they do not. In San Antonio, Texas it is, as far as I am aware, legal to carry a licensed weapon on your person in public and to carry a loaded gun in your car.

In case you think I am just being a principled liberal Brit who shouldn’t be poking his nose in where it’s not wanted then to refer to the US based DMO membership organisation Destinations International who have just produced a paper on the effect on tourism of increasing crime levels across America.

We in our own small way are running a poll regarding increased gun crime and as I write over 65% believe it will have an adverse effect on people’s destination choice when it comes to vacations.

I have little doubt that #IPW23 will be a resounding success and that all the participants will in fact be safe but I for one will feel a great deal safer if legislation is tightened between now and May 20th when the show opens.