Global Leader: USTA's Geoff Freeman

It’s no surprise to any one reading this that travel has taken a beating because of the recession.

It also shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone paying attention that the industry’s advocacy group, U.S. Travel Assn., has been fighting back, pulling the tradeshow industry’s leading organizations into its lobbying efforts.

Geoff Freeman, USTA senior vice president of public affairs, has been heading those efforts. He joined USTA in 2006 as executive director of Discover America Partnership, the industry’s initial efforts to attract international travelers to the United States.

“Over time,” Freeman said, “we’ve seen the challenges that travel faces expand and need to become a greater advocate for the industry grow, and we’ve expanded and grown with it.”

That includes folding Discover America Partnership’s goals – such as expansion of the visa waiver program, promotion of the U.S. abroad and hiring more customs officers – into USTA’s efforts, including Meetings Mean Business.

Freeman recently spoke with TSW Senior Assistant Editor Stephanie Corbin about the role of travel, USTA’s lobbying goals and how the tradeshow industry plays into those efforts.

Tradeshow Week: Why is travel so important?

Geoff Freeman: What makes travel unique is the role it plays in every state in the country, every Congressional district in the country. The role that travel plays in strengthening economies and creating jobs in providing tax revenue to local governments is unmatched by any other industry, and yet it has struggled to define itself as an industry. It’s struggled to develop an identity.

TSW: How can that be done?

Freeman: We see immense opportunity to make this industry more relevant, to tap into the energy and passions of the 7-plus million employees in the industry to get our message across, to position travel as part of the solution. ... (Other industries I’ve worked for are) not always viewed as the solution. In some cases, they were viewed as the problem. That can’t be said about travel.

Whether it’s creating jobs, providing tax revenue, driving spending, improving America’s image in the world, travel is part of the solution if it can just find a way to get its arms around how it presents itself, how it defines itself, how it builds its identity and what it advocates for.

I think as we do those things, we can strengthen the position of travel and, in the years ahead, make this the industry that government turns to when it needs to solve problems.

TSW: What are the U.S. Travel Assn.’s goals?

Freeman: We are entirely focused on growing the pie. We are the organization that is focused on getting more people traveling. Wherever the obstacles to travel are, are the places we’re going to be looking to remove those obstacles. Wherever the opportunities are, are places we’re going to explore things that could be done to improve facilitation to improve appreciation of travel.

TSW: What are the U.S. Travel Assn.’s lobbying efforts?

Freeman: Our focus is really looking at this through three channels: the leisure channel, the group channel and the business travel channel. And, at each one of those, building the strategies that can increase travel, that can remove obstacles, that can take advantage of opportunities.

When you look at specifically that group travel business, I think part of it is the advocacy side, I think part of it is helping members of Congress gain a better appreciation for the economic impact of group travel. Part of it is educating our own customers (and) making sure that businesses are more fully aware of the return on investment they receive.

TSW: What are the association’s main lobbying goals?

Freeman: If you look at the leisure side, absolutely, the Travel Promotion Act is our No. 1 priority from the leisure perspective. How do we present America as a more welcoming destination? How do we attract more visitors to this country?

We think you can do that, in part, by asking them to come, by doing what our competitors have done around the world and that is competing for visitors, explaining our security policies and making America appear as a more welcoming nation.

There are other things we’re looking at on that front, but aren’t specific perhaps to leisure: We’re really looking at the visa process, the entry experience. Those are top priorities of U.S. Travel, and they would benefit all international inbound visitors.

TSW: What about specifically for the events business?

Freeman: Clearly, looking at regulations on meetings and events are a top priority of ours on the group side of travel, as are other discouragements to travel. If you think back two summers, all the buzz was about a deteriorating air travel system. It was discouraging travelers; it was discouraging business people from hitting the road, from going to these events.

That’s a system that we have to address. We have to do it from the perspective of the traveler and streamline and enhance the air travel experience.

TSW: How do the leisure, group and business interests tie together?

Freeman: We look at this through three lenses. … That’s how you get ideas that bubble up. What you see with visa and entry issues is these are concerns that you’ll find in the business community, in the group community, in the leisure community. And when you find something that really is important to all three of those communities, that’s when you know that you have a top-tier issue.

TSW: The Travel Promotion Act has no cost to taxpayers, but what does it do for the country?

Freeman: It’ll better explain our security policies. It will promote the United States abroad as a ... destination. It will really maximize the ingenuity and marketing expertise of the private sector with the accountability and authority of the public sector to help the United States attract more visitors.

TSW: What’s the status of the act?

Freeman: There is immense support for the underlying legislation. There is widespread, bipartisan belief that we need promotion and this is good legislation that can help the U.S. attract millions of new visitors.

Now, what we ran into on the Senate floor on (June 22) were the arcane politics of the Senate and the inability to come to an agreement on different amendments, some of which were germane, most of which weren’t even related to travel promotion.

The inability to come to a conclusion on that has, at least for the time being, stalled the Travel Promotion Act. But we’re going to get this thing done. We’re working with Republicans and Democrats, encouraging them to find some common ground here, come back to the table. We’re hopeful that we’ll be done soon and this common sense legislation can move forward.

TSW: When passed, what will the legislation do for the tradeshow industry?

Freeman: As I talk to more and more folks – whether it’s the Consumer Electronics Assn., Natl. Restaurant Assn., Natl. Assn. of Home Builders, more and more shows that are increasingly dependent on international attendees – they clearly see the benefit of programs that let travelers around the world know whether you come here for business purposes, leisure purposes, whatever it may be, America’s open for business.

TSW: What challenges does the tradeshow industry face with travel?

Freeman: We absolutely have to be concerned about things that are pitched as alternatives to travel. Obviously, technology is a great thing, but technology has its limits, and we need to be able to adapt, we need to be able to figure out how to use technology. But we can’t let a mentality take hold that the meeting, the face-to-face communication can be set aside. That’s a challenge we confront.

(Another) challenge we confront is about the industry’s identity. As I said, we as an industry, as our various elements – leisure, group, business, tradeshows – we haven’t done well enough to make the case that travel matters to policy makers, to business leaders, to consumers. ... It’s great that we know how many jobs travel creates; it’s great that we know the tax revenue, but that doesn’t do a lick of good (for) a business that’s looking at how do they save money on their bottom line. That doesn’t convince the consumer as to why they need to go to that tradeshow. And we really need to start thinking about those audiences and the information that will compel them to get back out on the road.

TSW: How can the industry help the lobbying efforts?

Freeman: The community is doing a lot of work right now and a great job, ... (including with) the Meetings Mean Business campaign that we’ve been running with groups like PCMA and IAEE and MPI and the others all very actively involved. I think that’s been critical to the success that the broader industry has enjoyed in recently months from an advocacy perspective. Clearly, from an economic perspective, these last few months have been quite challenging. I think we need to continue to have that coordination at a national level.

TSW: What’s been the outcome of the meetings USTA had with Congress and President Obama?

Freeman: We’ve seen great progress. I think if you look back earlier this year, there were at least five different pieces of legislation that were introduced to curtail meetings and events in one way or another – none of those bills moved forward. There was extreme rhetoric coming off Capitol Hill, (and) just about all that has died down. ... And all of that is a sign that this administration and members of Congress, their understanding of the benefits of travel ... are growing. And that’s a positive sign for all of us in the industry.