Arnie Weissmann
It can come from the left or right, from politicians or an organized group of citizens. If a state's legislature wades into contested territory in the nation's culture wars, it may find itself threatened with boycotts. If a destination supports an event or launches an initiative that offends a lawmaker, it may face calls to reduce or eliminate its funding.
Such issues are not new, but Don Welsh, CEO of Destinations International, the association of destination management organizations, is concerned it may accelerate in 2023 as hot-button issues become hotter in the run-up to next year's elections.
"What concerns me about some of the actions I'm beginning to see is that we're letting personal opinions drown out the overall performance that cities, states and countries have seen in getting back on their feet" following the pandemic, Welsh said. "I think we're going to find quite a few challenges this year in various states and cities."
His concerns range across the political spectrum. On one hand, his members have contacted him with worries about scrutiny of initiatives or events that may fall within "the interpretation of 'woke' by a local or state government." On the other, calls for boycotts in reaction to legislation can particularly hurt the meetings industry. The shunning of North Carolina after it passed the "bathroom bill" that would prevent transgender people from entering bathrooms aligning with their gender identity "paled in comparison to the reaction to states that passed highly restrictive abortion laws after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade," he said. "The pendulum swung so quickly toward the desire to cancel meetings in New Orleans, Florida and Texas."
In either case, he said, "we call it the weaponization of travel. And we're going to have our work cut out for us in 2023."
Jorge Pesquera, CEO of Discover the Palm Beaches, promotes a county in a state where the governor recently said, "Florida is where woke goes to die." Pesquera said that, so far, the only action his organization has had to take to comply with "anti-woke" legislation was "a disclaimer at recent diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training for staff to indicate that the training is purely voluntary."
He has no plans, however, to back off from the organization's advocacy for DEI, which he said is a strategic pillar for the group.
"Perhaps South Florida is somewhat different, with its significant level of diversity and international influence; I haven't observed any real backlash. We've supported gay polo, Pride Day and Hispanic events and plan to continue to do so."
For other members of Destinations International, who may want to promote something that will trigger a reaction from those holding the purse strings, Welsh worries that "if [the DMO] feels any threat of a cut in legislative funding, self-censorship is a big danger at this point." Voluntarily backing away from supporting events for fear of offending lawmakers may come into play in 20% to 25% of cities and states, Welsh estimates.
The best defense, he believes, is for local DMOs to articulate tourism's importance to their entire communities. "When a destination is aligned not only with tourism stakeholders but also civic leaders who are neither in tourism nor elected, that's where you see the magic happen. That's where their subtle voice in the mayor's or governor's ear saying that tourism is a shared value makes a difference."
And to best marshal its own resources in addressing elected officials directly, Destinations International has hired Quorum, a company that monitors the social media channels and websites of government officials to look for indications that travel, tourism or meetings may be under threat.
"Rather than having to address eight legislators, we may see that we really only have to go to two to try to better inform them about issues," Welsh said.
Ultimately, when politicians involve travel in wedge issues, whether with sincere or cynical intent, it is their constituents who will suffer. A pro-choice housekeeper (or hotel general manager) may agree with the goals of those calling for a boycott but suffer when meetings planners decide the state where they work, which has passed restrictive anti-abortion legislation, has become too controversial to hold a convention there.
And a Log Cabin Republican may have been looking forward all year to an LGBTQ Pride event that gets canceled because the local tourism board is too nervous to provide needed funding and promotion.
Of course, travel is only one casualty of the destructive political polarization that undermines our country and civil discourse. But ironically, travel might be a battleground precisely because its benefits tend to undermine the more cynical and manipulative goals of cultural warriors. Exposure to lifestyles other than our own -- or interacting with visitors from places who view the world differently -- tends to bring us together rather than split us apart. And in an age defined by division, travel needs support, not threats.