The Travel Industry Responds

  

TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
Ensuring Travel Safety and Rebuilding Confidence in Traveling to and within the United States

INTRODUCTION
The horrific terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, using highjacked commercial aircraft, have seriously eroded consumer confidence in the safety and security of travel.

A respected industry analyst (Bear Stearns) perhaps stated it best when he said that "in the aftermath of Tuesday's tragedies, it is becoming increasingly clear that travel and tourism will be one of the hardest hit sectors of our economy and one of the areas where consumer confidence will take the longest to return. The short term logistical problem related to the disruption of the nation's travel infrastructure have begun to slowly unwind … however, the economic disruption and the psychological scars will take much longer to heal, and we believe it will be some time before travel volume approaches anything close to "normal" levels. This will only serve to compound the broad slowdown that was already in the travel and tourism industry before the terrorist strikes."

Clearly, the travel industry faces major challenges in the weeks and months ahead, but we will prevail. A plan of action has been developed to enable our industry and government to work together to ensure that travel is safe while rebuilding consumer confidence in traveling to and within the United States. The message of the plan is clear: Travel is one of the most fundamental freedoms we cherish and a return to travel is a return to normalcy.

Our unity and our ability to stay on message in the coming months will have a dramatic impact on the future of our industry. We look forward to your active participation.

The purpose of this plan is to set forth a preliminary set of proposals to address two objectives: (1) to enable our industry and government to work together to ensure that travel is safe and secure; and (2) to rebuild consumer confidence for travel to and within the United States.

OBJECTIVE 1: ENSURING THAT TRAVEL IS SAFE AND SECURE
As a general proposition, travel to and within the United States is safe, but there is much more that our industry and government can undertake to enhance both the reality and perceptions of travel safety. This is a national issue and a challenge of enormous proportions involving industry segments, Congress and the Administration.

The following comments and recommendations are proffered specifically to facilitate travel industry and federal government cooperation. (In general, however, the travel industry will stay focused on those areas where it has some measure of control).

  • The travel industry will support recently announced federal regulations to bolster security at our nation's airports and airlines.
    - Prohibiting curbside baggage check-in
    - Searching aircraft before flights
    - Allowing only ticketed passengers into gate areas beyond check points
    - Stepping-up police patrols
    - Keeping parked cars away from terminals
    - Increasing random checks of passengers following initial screening
    - Strictly limiting carry-on luggage

  • The travel industry will support the full and immediate consideration of recently announced proposals from the airlines and security experts for the federal government to mandate and fund additional security measures to increase the safety and security of the traveling public.
    - Expediting federal certification of screening personnel
    - Deploying a visible and armed law enforcement presence at airports
    - Full background checks for airport and airline personnel
    - Deploying undercover air marshals on commercial aircraft
    - Imposing tighter access restrictions

  • All travel industry suppliers should undertake a comprehensive review of their traveler safety and security procedures and initiate measures to bolster safety even more.

  • The travel industry will support federal government efforts to enhance security at our nation's borders while balancing the efficient handling of visitors with the need to ensure security.

  • The travel industry will support federal government efforts to enhance its intelligence capabilities in order to forestall terrorism in any form before it occurs.

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OBJECTIVE 2: REBUILDING CONFIDENCE AMONG TRAVELERS
An editorial in the Washington Post (September 14) stated that "A goal of the terrorist is to weaken America's prestige and have an impact beyond even death and destruction. That's why security changes must be balanced to persuade the public that it is safe to travel and yet not erode fundamental liberties." DOT Secretary Norman Mineta also asserted that the United States cannot "allow this enemy to win the war by restricting our freedom of mobility. The freedom to travel can only be exercised if the traveling public is confident that the travel product is safe."

The following proposals are proffered as initial steps in building a strong unified industry message and plan of action. The message is simple: "Travel is one of our most fundamental freedoms and a return to travel is a return to normalcy. As an industry, we will devote our efforts to ensuring the safety of U.S. travel and rebuilding the confidence of our nation's travelers."

Promotions:

  • A campaign summarizing steps by the travel industry and the federal government to ensure the safety and security of the traveling public will be developed and endorsed by travel industry leaders. The campaign should be funded jointly by the industry and the federal government.

  • Leaders representing all segments (large and small) will be brought together under the SeeAmerica banner to develop a focused marketing plan designed to tell the industry's story and help to restore consumer confidence in travel.

Public Relations:

  • A comprehensive travel industry communications campaign will be developed and implemented (with input from a broad cross section of industry PR leaders) including radio and television appearances, speaking engagements, and speech and "letters to the editor" templates for distribution to industry leaders for their use locally. The campaign will be targeted to U.S. travelers and international travelers located in key generating markets.

  • President Bush, like his father in 1991, and key congressional leaders and Cabinet Secretaries will be encouraged to participate in industry campaigns as spokespersons.

Forums:

  • Meetings with the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Commerce will be scheduled to demonstrate support, voice industry concerns, and request government matching funds for a coordinated campaign.

  • The travel industry will promote better coordination between federal government agencies with a stake in travel and tourism. Additionally, consideration should be given to requesting the government to reactivate (with private sector representation) the Tourism Policy Council, made up of all government entities that have an impact on travel, since it would not require new legislation.

  • The Travel & Tourism Coalition (comprised of more than twenty heads of travel industry associations) will be convened to reach consensus on a unified approach and endorse the industry campaign to develop measures to enhance and communicate travel safety.

  • A travel summit will be convened as soon as reasonable between the Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Transportation and travel industry leaders to discuss and agree on initiatives to restore confidence in traveling to and within the U.S.

Intelligence Gathering:

  • A comprehensive survey will be undertaken to gather current travel supplier initiatives designed to enhance the safety and security of the traveling public. The results should be shared within the industry and where appropriate, the media.

  • Ongoing travel industry analyses of the impact of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. travel industry will be compiled and shared among industry members.

  • Consumers will be surveyed on an ongoing basis as to their perceptions about, and intentions to, travel. On behalf of the industry, TIA will continue to conduct, and possibly expand, its quarterly Traveler Sentiment Index, Travelometerâ and other forecasting programs. In addition, consideration is being given to conducting a more detailed consumer travel survey as soon as possible. Follow-up surveys would be conducted periodically to track changes in consumer attitudes and perceptions.

  • Consumer intentions to travel to the U.S. and booking patterns will be collected from the travel trade in our top international markets.

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SUMMARY COMMENTS
The President and other national leaders have issued a poignant call for a return to the highest possible level of "normalcy". The message for our travel industry is clear: our nation cannot allow a group of terrorists to restrict America's freedom to travel. While we will long experience the shock, disbelief and anguish over the senseless murder of thousands of innocent people, we will remain conscious and respectful of the great tragedy wrought upon our collective spirit, our great nation and its people. We must move on.

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