Travel called critical industry

Two years later, the sour aftertaste left by President Barack Obama's zings about Las Vegas still hasn't disappeared.

Three top administration officials have been included as speakers at the Global Travel & Tourism Summit to press the point that Obama now places a high priority on the travel industry as an important economic force.

"We always remember just how critical your industry is," Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, told about 1,000 travel industry executives at Aria on Wednesday. "When your industry succeeds, America succeeds."

Earlier in the day, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood emphasized the previously laid out strategy of building more "roadways, runways and railways" to facilitate travel. In particular, he talked up the allocation of $10 billion to start a high-speed rail network, including a line from Las Vegas to Southern California.

But one questioner in the audience, Las Vegas Sands Corp. Vice President Eric Bello, said he doubts Obama's commitment to promoting the industry.

"He remains probably the only president in our history who's described business travel as a boondoggle instead of an integral part of face-to-face communications," Bello said.

In February 2009, Obama uttered his locally infamous line: "You can't take a trip to Las Vegas or down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime." A year later, he admonished parents not to blow their kids' college education money in casinos.

At the time of the first remark, Strip hoteliers complained about a wave of corporations that canceled meetings to avoid bad publicity. They say now that taint has largely faded away, but Bello said pharmaceutical and financial services companies are still reluctant to book events at high-end properties.

Jarrett called the "taxpayers' dime" line "totally out of context that got blown up."

"He's absolutely supportive of business travel," she continued. "The president promotes business travel all the time."

But at a subsequent panel discussion, Wyndham Worldwide CEO Stephen Holmes also questioned the administration's attitude due to "comments in the past ... and not much action" to boost the industry.

Holmes said the industry deserves some of the blame for viewing business travel as an indulgence.

"The travel industry has done a poor job in marketing itself," he said, and should take a "more aggressive role in educating" officials such as Jarrett.

The administration's public relations offensive will continue today with an appearance by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. She is expected to discuss, among other things, measures being taken to smooth the visa application backlog in countries such as China and Brazil.

In those countries, it can take more than two months to get an appointment for an in-person interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate, a requirement for a visitor visa.

Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.