WASHINGTON, DC — Roger Dow, president and CEO of the US Travel Association, had been considering leaving his position at the USTA to pursue other interests for some time. Then COVID hit.
“I love this industry too much to leave in the middle of it all,” Dow said. Trade show manager.
Dow has set a firm date of July 2022 to leave the USTA. Until then, his focus will remain on getting the federal government to open the country’s borders to international visitors and getting the business events industry back on its feet. He spoke with EASTby Frances Ferrante.
Françoise Ferrante: Last year, the U.S. saw a decline of more than $200 billion in business travel spending (half of which was due to a decline in business events). Tell me about the new “Let’s Meet There” campaign and what you’ve done to revive trade shows.
Roger Dow: Unlike leisure travel, which is already back to 2019 levels, business travel, meetings and events are struggling. We’ve been through a health crisis and we’re managing it, but we’re also going through a mental health crisis and an economic crisis. Some trade show suppliers are lazily hanging on and we need to address that.
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After the success of “Let’s Go There,” which was aimed at the leisure market, it morphed into “Let’s Meet There,” which is supported by a study from Ohio State University that shows that business meetings can be held safely. The CDC lumps together large gatherings and trade shows, and trade shows are much safer. You know who’s coming, you have registration, social distancing, safety protocols, and other measures. We can do it.
Ferrant: Pressure is mounting on the current administration to open the borders to international visitors. How can we finally make this happen?
Dow: It’s critical that international visitors return to the US shows. Otherwise, we’re going to start hearing that the event is no longer in the US, but in Singapore and Abu Dhabi. We need to convince policymakers that it’s safe, starting with people from the UK, the EU, and Canada. There are many countries that US citizens can travel to right now – the UK, Italy, Iceland – and we need reciprocity. And we need a master plan, starting with opening up to vaccinated people. But we can’t make that the only criterion, we need to look at a whole plethora of solutions.
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Ferrante: What impact does the Delta variant have on these efforts?
Dow: The Delta variant is in the headlines. We have to look at SARS and swine flu. We learned how to deal with them and we will do so with this new variant. We have to rely on science and data, but sometimes politics gets in the way and science gets left behind. We see in the UK that the variant is declining. We are lobbying the government to set a date when we can reopen. From September 15, for example, we will start to reopen to people from countries that accept us and have similar vaccination rates and case numbers.
Ferrant: I noticed that some media outlets have announced your “retirement” and then issued corrections to say that you are “resigning.” Will Roger Dow really retire one day, and if so, what would it look like?
Dow: I will never truly retire, just like I “retired” from Marriott 17 years ago! I have tried to retire from that position several times. I plan to do something else in the industry, and I can’t tell you about that now, but you will hear more about it in the spring. I am not going away.
Contact Roger Dow at (202) 408-8422 or rdow@ustravel.org