BRICKS IN THE WALL “ Words matter , and the words that have been said so far have created damage ,” says Alex Zozaya , CEO of Newtown , Pennsylvaniabased-Apple Leisure Group .
He ’ s talking about
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the statements U . S . President Donald Trump has made about some Mexican immigrants and Mexico , where Trump wants to build a wall .
Potential visitors to Mexico , and those considering traveling outside the U . S . for the first time , could be influenced by those comments , says Zozaya ,
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whose customer base focuses on Mexico , the Caribbean and the U . S . “ With the travel ban and the position on nationalism and closing borders , with the effect that that has on travel , of course that is concerning .”
He adds , “ The biggest concern we have is that a certain part of the population right now in the U . S . could start perceiving Mexico as part of an
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axis of evil , a place unfriendly to visit .”
At this point , Zozaya has seen people reconsidering travel plans but no outright cancelations . However , with organizations like the World Travel and Tourism Council predicting slower growth in the U . S . travel and tourism sector this year , mostly due to the stronger dollar , anything that inconveniences travelers will
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have an effect , he says . In 2015 , after Trump ’ s comments about some Mexican immigrants being criminals , Zozaya removed Trump Organization hotels from Apple ’ s distribution network . “ We ’ re not hoping for ( Trump ) to fail ,” Zozaya says , “ but that doesn ’ t mean that we are going to just accept some of the crazy stuff that comes out of his Twitter .” |
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14 hotelsmag . com May 2017 |