The tourism industry, and the hotel sector in particular, has never been known as a force to deal with in Washington. Despite its size, huge employment base and immense contribution to the balance of trade, hospitality has traditionally had a hard time convincing lawmakers it’s as important an industry as manufacturing, technology or agriculture. Luckily (although luck has little to do with it), that image is changing, thanks to the yeomen efforts of the AHLA, AAHOA, the U.S. Travel Association and the many industry leaders who have stepped-up their personal involvement in governmental affairs.

In the past several years, lodging industry lobbying efforts have succeeded in stopping legislation that had the potential to seriously harm the hotel business. The Employee Free Choice Act, a much-discussed pro-union proposal in the early months of the Obama administration and Democratic-controlled Congress, has mostly faded into the background. Another onerous piece of legislation, the mis-named Internet Travel Tax Fairness Act, would exempt online travel agencies from paying occupancy taxes on their share of revenues. That bill, too, has been stalled and may never reach the floor of the House.

By far, the tourism industry’s biggest success in recent years was securing passage of the Tourism Promotion Act, which created a public/private partnership to fund a marketing campaign to lure foreign visitors to the U.S. The effort is just getting off the ground and, even when fully implemented, will pale in comparison to what countries spend on tourism promotion. But the good news is the dynamic and creative former Best Western chief Jim Evans was tapped earlier this year to head the Corporation for Travel Promotion, which will administer the efforts.

Another positive sign of tourism’s growing prowess in Washington came last month with the revival of the U.S. Senate Travel & Tourism Caucus. Spearheaded by Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, one of tourism’s best friends in Congress, the Caucus hopes to champion legislation that eases barriers to travel and raises the awareness of the importance of tourism to the U.S. economy.

While all this news is good, the tourism lobby still has many challenges ahead. Perhaps tops among the ongoing issues specific to our industry is visa reform. Congress needs to streamline the process foreign visitors to the U.S. must endure to apply for and secure a visa. The major stumbling block has been the issue of national security, but the tourism industry has made a compelling case of how the visa process can be streamlined without jeopardizing the security of the country.

Now is the time for the obligatory, but very pertinent final message: You as a hotel owner, developer, operator, marketer, vendor or employee must get involved in the political process if this positive momentum has a chance to continue. And involvement can be as simple and painless as making informed choices at the ballot box or as complicated as personally lobbying your representatives on the issues of importance to you. And, of course, wisely dispensed political donations are always a help.