The Green Lobby may impact the hospitality industry.
Roger Dow, President and CEO of the US Travel Association, believes an “overzealous” environmental policy could be the next obstacle for the travel industry. He said 72 government agencies have already cut their travel budgets because of environmental concerns. While this isn’t enough to move the needle, it could turn into a troublesome trend, particularly if environment groups begin to target private enterprises about fuel guzzling travel habits of their employees. Remember the teleconferencing scare a few years ago? Those concerns could be revisited. On the bigger picture, Dow does not believe the travel industry will rebound to 2007 levels until 2012-13.