Tourism ads pressure White House hopefuls

Jason Garcia
Sentinel Staff Writer

August 22, 2008

A tourism-industry lobbying group will take out full-page newspaper ads during both national political conventions in a bid to pressure the leading presidential candidates into addressing travel policy.

Paid for by the Washington-based Travel Industry Association, the ads will begin running next week in newspapers in Orlando and Las Vegas -- two tourism-dominated cities in swing states that could tip the presidential election.

The group said Thursday it has bought a series of three ads to run before and during the Democratic convention in Denver, followed by another series of three timed to the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn. Officials said total spending on the campaign will approach $500,000.

The first ad, which will appear in Sunday's Orlando Sentinel, features a stern-looking Gatorland President and Chief Executive Officer Mark McHugh standing hands-on-hips over a headline that states, "Democrats, We'll be Watching." A small box of text calls on presumptive Democratic candidate Barack Obama to outline plans addressing everything from "unnecessary waiting lines at airports" to "marketing the U.S. as a premier destination."

"Today's deteriorating air-travel system, skyrocketing fuel prices and poorly communicated security policies are deterring domestic and international inbound travel and costing the U.S. billions of dollars," Travel Industry Association President Roger Dow said in a prepared statement. "It is time for presidential leadership on these critical issues."

The push to gain presidential attention comes with the tourism industry facing a stormy future. Skyrocketing energy prices have forced airlines to slash service and consumers to scrimp on spending, and the economy as a whole is sputtering. Overseas travel to the U.S. has yet to completely recover from the slump that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the heavy border-security policies triggered by those attacks.

As a precursor to the advertising campaign, the organization said it commissioned polls in both the Orlando and Las Vegas television markets that it said demonstrate the tightness of the presidential race and the importance of tourism issues to voters in those areas.

A survey of 250 likely voters in Orlando, for instance, found Obama and Republican candidate John McCain statistically tied. The Las Vegas survey demonstrated a similarly close campaign.

The Orlando poll also found that 91 percent of those responding consider the tourism industry important to the local economy -- but barely half, or 51 percent, think Orlando's tourism industry is in excellent or good condition. More than a third, or 36 percent, described the state of the local tourism industry as fair or poor.

The surveys in both cities also asked voters questions such as, "Are you aware that the United States is the only developed nation in the world that has no nationally coordinated effort to promote travel to its own country?" The Travel Industry Association is lobbying Congress to approve a measure that would create a publicly subsidized advertising campaign aimed at luring more overseas tourists to the U.S.

Each of the two series of newspaper ads will conclude on the day Obama or McCain delivers his nomination-acceptance speech. The two final ads will each feature a "report card" for readers to tear out and use to grade the candidate's speech.

Geoff Freeman, the Travel Industry Association's senior vice president for public affairs, said readers will be asked to grade Obama and McCain on how they address a number of travel-related categories, such as tourism promotion, air travel, border-entry policies and fuel prices.

"These issues have never before risen to the attention of presidential candidates," Freeman said. "And that needs to change."

Jason Garcia can be reached at jrgarcia@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5414.
Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel

Aug. 22, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

CAMPAIGN 2008: Tourism gets push in election
Media blitz will put focus on Las Vegas, Orlando, Fla.

By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

The lobbying arm of the nation's $740 billion travel industry will use Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., to gain a stronger foothold in the presidential race.

Officials from the Travel Industry Association announced Thursday they would spend nearly $500,000 to engage voters in Nevada and Florida, two important swing states in the campaign, which are also economically dependent on the travel industry.

The outreach, mostly composed of print advertising, will provide voters with scorecards to track how Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain intend to reverse a travel decline that started in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and lately has been aggravated by rising oil prices and waning consumer confidence.

The confluence of a close election and anxiety over the economy, especially in places such as Las Vegas, prompted the industry group to jump into the presidential fray.

"In each media market the presidential race is too close to call," said Mike Murphy, a prominent Republican strategist working on the travel campaign.

"The voters in these markets are very concerned," he added.

Although Murphy is known primarily for working with Republicans, officials from the Travel Industry Association stressed the campaign is bipartisan.

The idea is to urge candidates to address issues that have contributed to a travel decline the industry group said has cost the American economy $140 billion in spending and 230,000 tourism jobs since 2000. The slowdown in international visitation to America comes despite a global increase in travel, something the industry says is reflective of government policies that make it inconvenient and uncomfortable for foreigners to visit the United States.

"It is high time the candidates really address this," said Roger Dow, president and chief executive officer of the Travel Industry Association.

Hassles with customs and homeland security issues and delays in the visa process are blamed for lagging visitation numbers by foreign tourists.

"They are afraid they are going to let (Osama) bin Laden in; sometimes they are less than pleasant," said Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev.

Porter said reports of incidents in which airport security officers search the contents of laptop computers have the potential to dissuade visitation to the United states.

"If that is happening, it has to stop," Porter said. "We want to make the experience comfortable for traveling."

Also, the United States doesn't have a coordinated advertising campaign to attract tourists. The travel group is behind a bill that would raise $200 million annually from private and public sources to create a marketing campaign to promote the United States abroad.

The latest outreach coincides with a poll the association conducted in Nevada and Florida to gauge voters' knowledge and opinions on travel and the presidential race.

The Nevada poll was taken in the Las Vegas media market, an area that comprises Las Vegas, Clark County and some surrounding communities.

It showed Obama with a five-point lead over McCain, 42 to 38 percent with 19 percent of those polled undecided.

According to the travel industry poll, 95 percent of people who responded said travel and tourism are important to the state's economy.

"You have got a rip-snorting race there," Murphy said. "It is in the interest of both candidates to go after these voters hook, line and sinker."

The campaign is designed to peak during the Democratic and Republican conventions.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.