Travel industry leaders today said despite weather-related delays in some parts of the country, overall the Thanksgiving weekend showed that a comprehensive approach to improving the travel experience can work.
Roger Dow, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Travel Industry Association, said President Bush, the Transportation Safety Administration and the airlines, among others, all deserve credit for the role they played in helping making the holiday travel process run smoothly.
He emphasized that steps similar to those taken to reduce delays and increase efficiency during the past week need to be made on a permanent basis.
'An efficient and secure air travel process is critical to the success of our nation's businesses, hotels, restaurants, attractions and other members of the travel community,' Dow said. 'We can use this example to put in place systems and processes that give confidence to travelers that they will arrive safely and on-time to their destination with a minimum of hassle.'
Added Jonathan Tisch, Chairman of the Travel Business Roundtable and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Loews Hotels: 'Our federal government demonstrated its ability to create efficiencies in our nation's airways. The free flow of travel is vital to America's economy, and we encourage President Bush to focus on this issue during the duration of his administration.'
The Travel Industry Association and Travel Business Roundtable recently announced their intention to combine forces, largely because of rising concerns over the domestic travel process.
Prior to the start of the holiday season, President Bush announced that the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Defense, among other government entities, would take steps to help reduce air traffic congestion and delays at airports over the Thanksgiving travel period.
The Travel Industry Association, National Tour Association and Travel Business Roundtable last week released results of surveys of likely primary voters in Florida and South Carolina which showed that travel is important to voters.
Those surveyed overwhelmingly feel government can do far more to improve the air travel experience, and that presidential candidates have not adequately addressed important travel-related issues thus far during the campaign. Between one-third and one-half said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who does. For more information, click here.
