The Obama Effect: How Travel Will Change

[SarahS]

What will the new presidential administration mean for travelers? Can President Obama clean up the TSA, bring the outdated air traffic control system into the 21st century and improve the standing of Americans abroad -- or will the economic challenges he faces mean that improvements for travelers will have to wait?

Check out Traveler's Ed's thoughts below and share your own predictions for how travel may change under an Obama administration.

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The Obama Effect: How Travel Will Change

**Moderator's Note: Please be respectful of opposing viewpoints! This is not the place to debate politics or to prove other members wrong; it's a discussion of how travel may be different if the new president makes changes to certain aspects of the travel industry.**

[soliteyah]

I think it's hard to know how much Obama will be able to do for travelers. Unfortunately, he has some higher priorities at the moment!

But I can say that he has already indirectly led to a cross-cultural encounter for me; last week in Belize, I spent an hour talking with a local Belizean on a public bus about the American election (and about Belizean politics as well). I was delightfully surprised about how well-informed my seatmate was about the candidates, the issues and even the electoral college. ("Obama won Virginia, right? And North Carolina?")

Of course, the flip side of the coin was my embarrassment at knowing NOTHING about Belizean politics, but hey, he educated me. We both agreed that for better or worse, the U.S. government and economy is intimately connected to the governments/economies of Belize and many other countries, so the more we know about each other the better.

That conversation was one of the highlights of my trip. I hope Obama can manage to bring other people together the same way in the future...

[RichardNika]

During the campaign, Obama came to Miami and addressed the once-but-no-longer hardcore Cuban American National Foundation. He told them publicly, as he has told others, that he would remove all restrictions on Cuban-American family travel and remittances to people on the island. He does not have the authority to remove all travel restrictions, but if congress votes to do that, as they may well do, then instead of saying he would veto it, as Bush did, he will sign it. I was at a congressional fundraiser at a Miami home one week before the election and the president of the CANF was there, supporting this change. Rahm Emanuel was also there, and applauded him. Emanuel will doubtless remind the president if Obama fails to make the change.

One thing is for certain. If the House of Representatives signals their intent to delete funding for enforcement of the restrictions from the budget - and only the House has authority over money matters - it's in the Constitution - then Obama will not respond by threatening to veto the entire federal budget.

[LSKahn]

Personally, I think that some people--especially Europeans--reluctant to visit the US while Bush was president, will come now (if they can afford it with all the economic problems).

As some of you may know, I have a tour guide license in Washington, DC, and do guide groups around Our Nation's Capitol. One of my biggest employers (I am an independent contractor and work for a number of tour operators) is On Board Tours. They run tours that go to all the monuments where the bus stays with you and the guide gets on and off with you at each monument. Yes, it is more regimented than the hop off/hop off options here but you never have to wait for a bus.

Anyhow, one day I was working for On Board and an Australian man gets on the tour bus. I want to share what he said to me: He decided at the last minute to hop on a plane and come over to the US to be here for election night because, well, he just couldn't stay away. Here he was with me on this tour bus. I couldn't believe that any foreigner would be so invested in our election that he would feel compelled to do that (not to mention the expense), but he was. He told me that Australia would never elect a nonwhite prime minister. I had to agree with him there just having spent 6 weeks in his country last summer. I did tell him that the time would come in Australia when race would not be considered as a major factor in elections. I also told him that it was not significant for most Americans because Afro-Americans had been filling many different offices in our national and state governments for a long time, so an Afro-American (or mixed race) President really was a natural progression.

Obama has unbelievable support around the world--perhaps because people were so fed up with Bush. Perhaps because his mixed race creates a feeling of empowerment among those who are not white themselves. The Europeans just hated Bush. I was grilled about Bush every time I traveled there during his second term. I had to keep saying, "I did not vote for him. However, I am in your country to enjoy myself and really do not want to discuss politics."

Is the Obamamania deserved? Probably not. I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed because they have invested so much, so much is wrong and there is only so much one man can do. I keep telling people to lower their expectations to touch reality because Obama should not be confused with the second coming. In the meantime, I do expect tourism to Washington, DC, to rebound a lot more quickly than tourism in other parts of the world from the current recession/depression.

I sure hope that Australian guy enjoyed the tour I gave him (and about 20 some odd others on the bus/van). It was a lot of money to just come here for the election--and my tour (at least I like to think--heh heh--that he came for my tour).