Arnie Weissmann
Following President Trump's election, Southwest Airlines' vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) changed his title to "vice president, corporate citizenship and chief inclusion officer." Following the president's inauguration, the USTOA reaffirmed its commitment to its DEI program.
The Southwest change occurred without fanfare; the USTOA news came in a press release.
Through executive orders and directives of newly confirmed cabinet members, the Trump administration has made it clear that DEI programs in the federal government are to be dismantled.
There's also the suggestion that government will look with favor on companies whose corporate policies align with its vision and with disfavor on those that don't.
Airlines are regulated by federal agencies. Tour operators, by and large, are not, though strong supporters of the president among consumers may judge leisure travel providers by their public stances. Voluntary reaffirmation of its principles by the USTOA is not without potential consequences.
This week I was in Los Angeles to attend the Americas Lodging Investment Summit, an event that is owned by Travel Weekly parent Northstar Travel Group. While there, I had the opportunity to interview a handful of hotel company CEOs about their DEI programs. Additionally, some made DEI-related remarks during a CEO panel.
Geoff Ballotti, CEO of Wyndham, voiced his support for programs that his franchise group has in place to promote diversity in ownership of Wyndham brands.
"We are not looking to change our commitment to DEI to get underrepresented groups like Black-owned enterprises and women-owned enterprises to develop hotels into our system," Ballotti said. "We launched BOLD -- Black Owners and Lodging Developers -- about four years ago, and Women Own the Room about five years ago. We have 20 hotels that, without that support -- financial support, training support, operational support -- we're not sure those hotels would be able to have opened. And we have 100 deals in the pipeline.
"To the extent that anything's changing the [political] landscape, that will not impact us," he said. "We'll use the resources we can to bring those groups in. We're strongly committed. Diversity, equity and inclusion is so important. This industry needs it."
On the CEO panel were six hotel executives: Ballotti as well as the CEOs of Marriott, Hilton, IHG, third-party management company Aimbridge Hospitality and the deputy CEO of Accor. They were, Ballotti had self-consciously admitted to me before going onstage, a collection of "iwogs -- incredibly white old guys."
Onstage, they were asked to respond to this question from the audience: "What are your company's intentions to focus or not focus on DEI initiatives in the near and long term?"
Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta responded that hospitality businesses "are, by definition, very diverse businesses. Our objective has been to make sure that teams that we're building, corporately or in the properties, are able to best deliver what our customers want. So it is ultimately a business imperative for us to have diversity in our teams."
IHG chief Elie Maalouf said that when he ran the Americas division, he had worked to build a diverse culture and that "we'll continue that, past the trends and fads. There's no way we can be successful as a company if we aren't attractive as an employer to the broadest set of people. We're also a meritocracy. But it's impossible to serve 1 million people every night if we don't have a very broad and inclusive set of colleagues around the world."
Jean-Jacques Morin of France-based Accor said that his company had just revamped its statement of purpose and that "the first sentence is exactly about diversity and inclusion. So, there is no way back."
I spoke with Marriott CEO Tony Capuano about the issue in more depth the next day. He said, "Decades before somebody dreamt up the acronym DEI, the ideas that we welcome all into our hotels and that we create opportunity for all were deeply embedded in the company's core values, and they will continue to be. The political winds are going to blow in all sorts of different and rapidly changing directions, and our objective is to advance our business strategy and live by our core values.
"Everything evolves," he continued. "Will we look at programs that we have? Will we tweak language? Will we think about whether it's about tracking metrics or just about sticking to those core values? Those are all discussions we have every day, irrespective of what's going on in Washington. We were doing it before the election, we're doing it after the election, we'll be doing it 20 years from now. The world changes, but we won't fundamentally deviate even a bit from the core principles of welcoming all and creating opportunities."
Mark Hoplamazian, Hyatt's CEO, was not on the panel but I spoke with him separately. I was familiar with his company's DEI efforts because its global senior vice president of DEI, Tyronne Stoudemire, also sits on Northstar's Black Travel Advisory Board.
Hoplamazian said he felt good about the company's efforts and that its purpose-linked programs helped its business, but he stopped short of predicting where things were going.
"I think every company -- and not just companies but institutions of any kind -- now have a new indication of direction provided by the federal government. We're all absorbing that and trying to figure out exactly what it means.
"New cards are getting turned over," he continued. "They're not being put in writing, and there's not a lot of framework around them. So, we're going to continue to evaluate. I don't think anybody has understood it well enough yet to know exactly what the implications are. We need to pour through that and spend some more time to really understand it."
Hoplamazian's uncertainty surprised me because the company's DEI program was among the strongest I was aware of. I give him credit for going beyond generalized statements about the inherent connection between diversity and global hospitality, and he is not the first CEO to struggle with the implications of shifting winds. As he noted, "there's not a lot of framework" outside mandates that, for the moment, only directly impact federal agencies.
And he is perhaps correct to be wary of federal guidelines or de facto government practices that might dictate which companies get preferential treatment, based on their internal corporate policies.
Earlier in the conference, Caroline Beteta, CEO of Visit California, had cautioned attendees to "stay away from the political narrative."
Which, when it comes to DEI, is impossible. The public (and watchful politicians and media) will interpret action (or inaction) through a political lens.
For that reason, it seems to me that companies should look inward to their values rather than trying to read the tea leaves. As was noted by some of the CEOs, it simply makes business sense for a diverse workforce to serve a diverse customer base. And I would add that it makes societal sense for the continuation of programs for underserved communities that provide opportunities for advancement for qualified people who would otherwise find it difficult.
Nonetheless, in exploring this topic with the CEOs, I find myself pondering Morin's assessment about DEI that "there is no way back," and wondering: true or false?