While re-reading the U.S. Travel Association’s response to the new executive order on the new “local first” travel policy, I can’t help but think about basketball.
It was a beautiful backdrop and interesting setting for a game that could have been played in North Carolina or Michigan or Washington, D.C. or in the middle of “Any Town” USA given the right vision. The television audience was reminded that one person’s crazy vision did not cost any tax dollars as the game was privately funded.
<
“Basketball games, like face-to-face meetings, like exhibitions and tradeshows, all take place in many unique settings and communities throughout this great, free, country.”
While this is true in a sense I assume that the public might have paid for the facility on which the “event” unfolded. You see that events (basketball games), like face-to-face meetings, like exhibitions and tradeshows, all take place in many unique settings and communities throughout this great, free, country.Communities build facilities to host these events, meetings and exhibitions. People travel, impact the economy and then they become just a memory or something to build upon next year.
“The integrity of government travel is vitally important to our industry and we work collaboratively with our federal partners to ensure responsible stewardship of U.S. taxpayer dollars.”
As these two thoughts collide in my mind the takeaway is that great events, meetings and exhibitions can happen in unique places but that placing restrictions on travel to them might have left many attendees off the invitation list to the USS Carl Vinson and the number one team in college basketball 2,500 miles away from a memory.
I think our association should support this initiative by the US Travel Association. Don’t you?
