Travel industry awaits Bush's exit

By Chris Reiter

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. travel industry is looking forward to the end of George W. Bush's stay in the White House.

While the weak U.S. dollar has put the United States on sale for many travelers, tough border controls and an unfriendly image of the United States abroad may have kept some travelers away. A new administration could help change that.

"We're looked at as being extremely arrogant throughout the world, and Bush certainly contributes to that," Michael Depatie, chief executive of boutique hotel operator Kimpton said at the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit this week.

Despite the falling dollar, the U.S. has lost 17 percent market share of international arrivals since the last quarter of 2001, according to Marriott International Inc, the second-largest U.S. hotel company.

"I think you probably need not just a new occupant in the White House, but you probably need some meaningful change in visa policy to get some of that lost share back," Arne Sorenson, Marriott's chief financial officer, told the Summit.

The weak dollar has attracted foreign tourists to destinations like New York, Orlando and Las Vegas as the slowing U.S. economy threatens to sap domestic travel demand. But immigration reform has become a key issue for the hotel industry in order to attract a broader swathe of travelers as well as workers.

"Some of the immigration laws make it difficult for people to enter our country," said Steven Rudnitsky, chief executive of Ramada and Days Inn operator Wyndham Hotel Group, a unit of Wyndham Worldwide Corp. "We need to make it easier."

Political issues, while not the main concern of most travelers, still play a role, and the next U.S. president could help ease tensions and promote a better environment for travel.

"I think that the U.S. being seen as a more inviting entity in general, more friendly toward other entities, would be a good thing for travel on a worldwide basis," said Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of leading online travel agency Expedia Inc.

The Bush administration has made some progress such as a recent agreement with the Chinese government that helps ease Chinese group travel to the United States.

The $650 billion U.S. travel industry is an important part of the U.S. economy. It accounts for roughly 5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product and has been growing faster than the overall economy for the last four years, according to data from the Travel Industry Association.

Increased tourism could potentially help the U.S. address its growing trade deficit with other countries, especially China. Las Vegas is certainly ready to do its part.

"Maybe they (China) can make all the cars and toys, and we'll win it all back at the baccarat tables," said William Weidner, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)

(Reporting by Chris Reiter, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)