During a conversation at the Punchbowl News Conference in Washington, D.C. on March 10, Nassetta told the audience that the U.S. has lost half its inbound international market share over the last 30 years.
"We were 10% of inbound global travel 30 years ago," he said. "Now we're 5%. I don't think we should accept that."
Nassetta pointed to reduced travel from Canada, which has fallen sharply amid ongoing political tensions.
Recovering even half of the lost global market share would mean "massive amounts of incremental economic activity and millions of incremental jobs," he said.
Nassetta also noted that Brand USA, the public-private organization that promotes the U.S. as a travel destination, has been largely defunded.
"We need to make sure we fund it," he said. "A lot of people want to come to America. But there are a lot of other options."
He pushed for making it easier for travelers to enter the U.S.
"We have to make it more frictionless, more welcoming -- not add friction by charging incremental fees or asking for incremental information we may not need," said Nassetta, adding that modern biometric technology makes it possible to be "safer than we've ever been" while removing most friction from the system.
Despite the headwinds, Nassetta said he is optimistic, pointing to early signs of improvement in mid-market hotel performance and various macroeconomic tailwinds, such as easing inflation, lower interest rates and a favorable tax environment.
"All the mid-market stuff, every little Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites and all these products that serve that middle class, you're starting to see them move in a very different direction than we had been seeing them move," said Nassetta.
Tags: Hilton Christopher Nassetta
