LOS ANGELES -- Top hotel executives at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit called for targeted legal immigration programs as they weighed potential challenges from stricter border policies and immigration vetting under the Trump administration.
"One of the most important issues in our industry for time and eternity has been workforce, and our inability for certain classifications of team members to be able to get into the workforce, and the need for comprehensive immigration reform," said Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta.
Craig Smith, CEO of Aimbridge Hospitality, advocated for a more nuanced approach to immigration policy, rather than focusing solely on border security.
"We need to go to the administration and say, 'Let's talk about legal immigration,'" he told the audience. "We have a need for certain jobs. If people are skilled in those jobs, can we get them across the border?"
Rosanna Maietta, CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, echoed the need for practical immigration solutions while acknowledging how complex the political landscape is.
"Immigration reform is an issue that is very emotional for a lot of people," she said, adding that while comprehensive reform may be unlikely, the industry continues to focus on improving seasonal worker programs and access to H-2B visas, particularly for resort areas facing labor shortages.
"We need to improve [the H-2B] process, which is a lottery that feels very random and doesn't allow for certainty that businesses need," Maietta said.
Protecting the welcome mat
Also of concern were policies that could deter inbound international visitation to the U.S., which finally started to rebound last year from the pandemic-era border closures.
Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano said he was keeping a close eye on the administration's talk about "enhanced vetting of incoming travelers."
"You think about all the work the industry has done to remove friction from cross-border travel, and then you think back to travel bans and other things that are so obviously impactful in a negative way to our business," he said.
U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman also criticized what he described as the mixed messages being sent to international visitors.
"We are sending a message to the world [saying] we don't want your illegal visitors, and we're not sure we want your legal ones either," he said. "And that's concerning."
Further exacerbating matters, Freeman added, is the ongoing visa-processing crisis.
"Right now, people in many countries -- 45% of the countries around the world -- need a visa to come to the United States," he said. "The wait time to get an interview is over 400 days in India. It is 680-plus days in Colombia. We are telling people around the world we don't want their business. And the mixing of all these issues -- the mixing of illegal and legal -- is probably our greatest concern."
Despite the challenges, Nassetta expressed confidence that the industry's fundamentals are likely to remain strong once initial policy uncertainties settle.
"Business likes certainty," he said. "We've been living in an environment where business has been pretty good, but you don't know what's going to happen from a regulatory point of view, [and once we know] where those things are going, I think that's going to translate into good things for our business."