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« Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Obama? McCain? Industry Leaders Believe The Devil Is In The DetailsBy Roger Leo 
How might differences in their administrations affect the mountain resort and travel industry? The crystal ball is smudged by the fires burning on Wall Street, and cluttered with the promise-everyone-everything rhetoric of the campaign trail. Even so, we asked several industry leaders to prognosticate on possible differences between a Democratic administration and a Republican one. Here is our exclusive report. Cabinet appointments, energy policy, adequate funding of federal agencies, and the balance between environment and development arose as the major concerns. "Appointments are important, particularly in the Forest Service. Policies can change depending on who's elected," resort operator Tim Mueller told The Industry Report, "We saw policy differences between the Clinton and Bush administrations in areas that affected ski resorts. Probably some things Clinton did were better, but the roadless thing, we're still dealing with that." Mueller is referring to the Clinton administration's banning building or reconstructing roads in about one-third of all national forest lands. It was a ruling made on the way out the door. This effectively blocks logging, mining, and other development activities. The Bush administration has attempted to ease the roadless rules. Mueller and his wife, Diane, own Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont and Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado, and operate Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire. "Differences between administrations show up in things like the Forest Service, in leases, and on tax issues. They can make a difference in how we operate," he said. "Quite frankly this whole immigration thing and H-2Bs is a big issue for the ski industry. I can't tell you today which candidate would be better on that issue. It's not a Democratic or Republican issue," he said. (H-2B visas are for temporary foreign workers, a major labor pool for resorts.) "Workers comp, tort reform in general, those things all get caught up in the political winds. I can't say whether Obama or McCain would be better on one or the other. They aren't issues that get talked about in campaigns," he said. "Generally speaking, those types of things are definitely on the table during elections. They're labor issues so they all make a difference, not only to the ski industry but to a lot of industries, small businesses and large. People in business feel the effects of legislation and political winds, but don't spend a lot of time trying to change it, because we're so busy, especially at this time of year," Mueller said. Arnie Weissmann, Editor in Chief of Travel Weekly, said energy policy is the single most important issue that might be affected by who wins. "The rise in the price of oil through much of 2008 had significant repercussions for everyone. With airlines, it affected everything from service to extra charges for bags, for seat selection, for drinks, for blankets. Believe it or not that's all related to the price of oil," Weissmann said. "For local ski markets, people look at the cost of gas, the cost of driving. The properties themselves have to heat them, and when the price of oil goes up it affects them," he said. "So the No. 1 issue for the travel industry is oil. Who will be the better candidate depends on what your position on energy is. Both McCain and Obama have said they would look at alternatives to oil," he said. "Other topics the travel industry in particular is focused on have to do with transportation infrastructure, like air traffic control. Things in the travel industry tend to go back to the airline industry because everybody's business depends on people's ability to get to them," Weissmann said. Bob Roberts, Executive Director of the California Ski Industry Association, said his member resorts are impacted equally by state and federal elections. "We're staring at a state budget deficit of $15 billion. Gov. Schwarzenegger is a centrist; his whole game plan is to get the state back on sound economic footing. It's critical for our industry. Infrastructure needs upgrading. The highways need a lot of work. We're totally dependent in our industry on highways." That's the state level. "In discussions among our board, there's a sense we're probably going to see a Democratic administration and Democratic Congress," Roberts said. Strong congressional leadership ties to resort areas of California and Nevada make that a welcome scenario from Roberts' perspective. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a place at Sugar Bowl; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is from Nevada; Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California is on the Appropriations Committee, and chair of the subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies; all are Democrats. Roberts said a crucial issue for California and Nevada resorts is for the federal government to put money into the U.S. Forest Service budget. "Eighteen of 23 alpine resorts are on Forest Service land, and our partners are paupers," he said. "Right now our immediate issue is how we begin to restore some semblance of order to the Forest Service budget," Roberts said. Budgets were diminishing already, and then were whacked by forest fires which consumed $400 million in program funds, Roberts said. "We have to begin to use our political muscle to help the Forest Service restore budgets that won't get hammered each year by fires. This is a lot easier to do with a Congress controlled by Democrats than by Republicans," Roberts said. He said it's vital for the Forest Service to have the tools it needs to conduct reviews and approvals of ski area management plans in a timely manner. "Problems we've had are a function of them not having the manpower and resources to do the reviews," he said. Resort operator David Crowley, immediate past chair of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), told the IR, "I have noticed that during Democratic administrations the environmental groups get a much larger voice and in the Republican administrations the business community tends to have a larger voice." Crowley, General Manager and an owner of Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton, Mass., also has served 12 years on the NSAA Board of Directors. "I would imagine, based on history, that when the Obama administration takes effect, there will be some appointments based on promises made to groups that are a little less open to using land for recreation, and a little more favorable to setting aside land as wilderness than we are currently seeing." What It Means: Economic woes will occupy the attention of any new administration, but differences between McCain and Obama vis-à-vis ski resorts and the travel industry will show up in the finer details of government operations, particularly budgets and appointments. « Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » |
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