Inbound international travel to the United States remains steady despite a strong U.S. dollar, according to Hotel News Now, citing first-quarter earnings reports from various global hotel companies. Industry leaders forecasted the strengthening dollar, appreciating against the euro as well as several other foreign currencies, would deter travelers from visiting comparatively more expensive gateway markets such as New York. The U.S. Dollar Index, according to the article, was 94.92 at press time, more than the 52-week low of 78.91 but less than the 52-week high of 100.39. While demand from Europe, particularly Germany and France, was down, demand from China increased. “A number of us worked really hard in the industry to work with the U.S. government and the Chinese government to make it easier and more efficient to get visas, and that is having a dramatic positive impact on what has been the largest outbound customer base, which is now China in the world,” said Chris Nassetta, CEO, Hilton Worldwide Holdings.