Chairman's Message
Tarun S. Patel, CHA
2009 Chairman, Asian American Hotel Owners Association
AAHOA Lodging Business - May, 2009
 Like any industry, the travel
industry is feeling the effects of the downturn. When money is
tight and wallets are thin, it is an undeniable fact that leisure travel
is often one of the first areas where cuts are made. At the same
time, there is some travel that must, and should, continue. Each
year, business travel contributes billions of dollars to the U.S.
economy. Anything but a luxury, business travel turns the gears of
business, bringing people together to brainstorm, close deals, and keep
our economy up and running.
In a time when fortunes are down, it is natural to look for answers
and targets of blame. Corporate excess and greed have been
frequent scapegoats for the current economic situation – although
not entirely unwarranted. An unfortunate result has been the
questioning of business travel as a proper use of corporate money.
While an argument can always be made for moderation, some critics have
gone too far, overlooking the significant contribution that business
travel makes to our nation’s economy. The resulting scrutiny
has led some companies to scale back, and in some cases eliminate
business travel entirely. Meetings planned well in advance have been
cancelled in an effort to avoid the negative perception that has become
associated with business travel. Effects from this have been keenly felt
across the industry.
Perhaps somewhat ironically, the recent focus on corporate frugality
threatens to harm the economy and stunt economic recovery—that is,
if it hasn’t already. American businesses and the travel
industry in particular have enough to worry about without the added
burden of a tacit boycott of a large part of the industry’s bread
and butter—corporate travel. In an undeniably difficult
time, our industry needs all the support it can get. For this
reason I am very pleased by my recent appointment to the Board of the
U.S. Travel Association, and the opportunity to support our $7.5 billion
industry. Through various initiatives, including the
“Meetings Mean Business” campaign, the Board is working to
educate the nation about the value of business travel, armed with the
following impressive facts:
Business travel creates 2.4 million jobs nationally; meetings and events
are directly responsible for 1 million jobs.
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Business travel accounts for $39 billion in tax revenue at the
federal, state and local levels.
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Business travel supports more than 200 hotel and convention centers
across the country.
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According to a survey conducted by Meetings and Conventions
magazine, 52 percent of those polled stated that the backlash against
meetings has had a moderate or extreme influence on their
company’s decisions to hold events.
For more information about the tremendous impact that business travel
has on the U.S. economy, visit the U.S. Travel Association Web site at
www.tia.org or www.meetingsmeanbusiness.com.
I look forward to working with U.S. Travel to do all I can to support
our industry and help us survive the recession and emerge stronger than
ever on the other side.
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