Q+A: Tori Barnes:

U.S. Travel Association exec talks China visitation, Real ID

The annual number of Chinese travelers to the United States has been dropping recently, a trend that has caught the attention of the U.S. Travel Association.

That’s just one of the topics that Tori Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy for the association, touched on in a recent interview.

Only three other countries — Canada, Mexico and Australia — and the United Kingdom have more visitors to Las Vegas than China. Last year, however, the number of Chinese visitors here — just under 237,000 — dipped by 9%, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

With the friction between the U.S. and China over trade relations, is that something the association is worried about?

Tori Barnes

Tori Barnes

Unfortunately, we do expect it to affect travel. The strength of the dollar and trade tensions are two of the major reasons why we are seeing a decline in our share of the market for international long-haul visitors. We went from about 3.2 million visitors from China in 2017 to about 3 million in 2018 and we’re seeing a similar decline here in 2019.

That is of concern. We are advocating for these governments to come to a resolution soon, because it’s going to end up having a negative effect on our economy.

On average, Chinese travelers spend almost $7,000 per visit. That’s compared to the average international traveler spending about $4,000. The Chinese stay longer and spend more money, so it’s a critical set of international travelers.

It’s no secret that Las Vegas is a popular destination for Chinese travelers. Is Vegas the most popular U.S. destination for that segment?

New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas — those are probably the top markets for Chinese travelers.

On the domestic travel side of things, the federal Real ID Act is set to go into effect Oct. 1, 2020. According to the association, close to 100 million Americans still don’t have a Real ID-ready form of identification, which they will need to board a domestic flight come next fall. Are Americans going to be ready for this?

Unfortunately, our survey results tell us that 57% of Americans don’t even know the deadline for Real ID is coming. America is absolutely not Real ID-ready. Our findings tell us about 99 million people don’t have a Real ID-compliant (driver’s) license, passport or military ID that would be an acceptable form of identification.

We’ve launched a significant education campaign, and we’re driving policies to help mitigate the negative impact for travelers when they show up at the airport on Oct. 1, 2020. We think as many as 80,000 people could be turned away at airports on that first day and about 500,000 that first week. That would have almost a $300 million impact on (the U.S.) economy in just one week.

You were in Las Vegas recently for a presentation at a Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board meeting. What are some other things you’re watching as it pertains to Vegas?

I noted the importance of Chinese travelers to Las Vegas. One of the things we’re doing is to renew Brand USA, which is a public-private partnership that helps market the United States to international destinations. It costs no taxpayer dollars and one of those destinations is in China, so it helps encourage the Chinese to continue to come here over other countries like Spain or France or Australia.

Reauthorizing Brand USA would obviously benefit Las Vegas greatly.

(U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.) is actually leading the Senate bill on Brand USA renewal and (U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.) is one of the lead Democrats on the House bill, so Nevada really has champions at the federal level helping to drive policies that are important for Las Vegas and Nevada at large.

Tourism

Share