Many in the hospitality industry were hopeful that Barack Obama’s election would finally give us a strong and knowledgeable voice in Washington. The hope was that President-Elect Obama would nominate Penny Pritzker to be Secretary of Commerce. The 49-year-old Pritzker was Obama’s chief fundraiser and, of course, is one of three cousins who run the vast Pritzker business empire, of which Hyatt Hotels is the centerpiece.

That hope was dashed yesterday as Penny said she wouldn’t pursue the job. It’s a shame, because even though she is more involved in the family’s senior residence business, she sits on the board of Global Hyatt Corp. and, as a Pritzker, probably has strong sentimental ties to the hotel business, which put her family on the map and contributed to its combined wealth pegged at something north of $15 billion. As Commerce Secretary, she would be the hotel industry’s inside person, someone who understood and could act on some of the issues that matter most to the industry. Who knows, she may have even been able to establish a credible federally funded marketing program to attract international visitors to the U.S.

Well, I guess you can’t lose something you never had.

As an aside, it’s interesting to note that had Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination and the election, the word was that Loews chief Jonathan Tisch was in line to get the Commerce spot. That would have been even better for the tourism industry as he is its chief cheerleader and salesman.

It’s not the best time to own or operate a resort. Not only are you buffetted by the economic headwinds that have caused an extreme falloff in consumer spending, but you may also be a victim of the so-called AIG Effect, a media phenomenon that has many big corporations shunning board meetings, incentive trips and conventions at resorts, particularly those at the luxury end of the lodging spectrum. This curious morality play opened just after insurance giant AIG received a $150-bill-plus bailout from the federal government and then booked the five-star St. Regis Resort in southern California for a junket to recognize top-producing agents. They followed that event, which cost a reported $443,000, with a training session for financial planners at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak in Phoenix.

While I understand and feel the public’s anger over a company spending what seems like discretionary monies at a time when it has its hand out for a government bailout. The problem, of course, is proportion. Sure, the St. Regis in Monarch Beach oozes luxury and expense and wasn’t a good move from a PR point of view. But, as the company tried to explain, the meeting was scheduled months ahead of the bailout scenario and the purpose was to honor independent insurance agents, the company’s lifeblood and primary revenue source. Likewise, the meeting in Phoenix seemed to have a legitimate purpose (training) and, despite media histrionics, was held at a nice, but hardly five-star hotel.

Now unfortunately, the entire resort business will suffer as other companies—particularly those with public ownership or who may be in line for any federal assistance—will undoubtedly avoid the appearance of spending lots of money at high-end resorts. The losers, of course, will be the innocent owners, operators and employees of these properties who were just providing a service for a fee.

By the way, AIG has since cancelled 160 other conferences and events it had planned. Total revenue loss for the lodging properties where the meetings would have been held: $8 million.

The “cautious optimism” we’ve heard about all year seems a thing of the past. I wouldn’t exactly call the latest vibe the opposite of that—would that be reckless pessimism?—but a more realistic and somber attitude seems to be prevailing. At least that was the feel at the IH/M&R show in New York City this week.

From the opening CEO Leadership Panel on Saturday all the way to the those walking the aisles of the expo portion of the event, the mood felt a little downcast. No longer was “cautious optimism” the refrain. Just about everyone admitted things weren’t great, in some cases, not good at all, even downright bad. Yes, we’re in the midst of a down cycle. The good news—the optimism we’re left with—is business will bounce back and probably better than ever. We’re in for some tough times, another 12-18 months was the prevailing wisdom, but things will turnaround much quicker.

The industry vets who’ve been through this before sounded confident in that belief. The fundamentals of the industry remain strong and travel will always be at the core of this country’s people. When the economy turns around, the hotel industry will be perched to reap the rewards once again.

When your point of view is rejected, the only thing to do is boycott. That’s the feeling many political activists take when a ruling, election or even public opinion doesn’t go their way. While it’s a perfectly legal and American thing to do, a planned boycott of the Utah lodging industry couldn’t come at a worse time for the state or its tourism business.

There’s a nascent movement afoot to do just that among some Californians disgruntled over the results of last week’s election that outlawed same-sex marriages in the state. The loosely formed group is targeting Utah because Mormons and members of the church were heavy contributors to the fight to pass the measure. In retaliation, these activists are calling on sympathizers to avoid travel to Utah.

Should the movement gain traction, the state’s ski industry, which is just opening for the season and which draws a healthy portion of its business from the Golden State, will suffer.

During the late 1980s, a protracted boycott of Arizona over its refusal to honor Martin Luther King Day as a holiday hurt the state, especially in its efforts to land big-ticket events like the Super Bowl.

No matter how you feel about the same-sex marriage issue, it will be a shame if those owners and employees of tourism businesses in Utah suffer for actions they may not have been part of.

Interestingly, yesterday Bill Marriott wrote in his blog about the issue. He pointed out that Marriott is a public company not controlled by one individual or family and even though he is a Mormon, neither he nor the corporation contributed to the campaign to ban gay marriages in California.