Las Vegas, a mecca for gamblers and a top US tourist destination, is still smarting from Obama's remarks in February 2010 advising recession-hit Americans, "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're saving for college."
And participants in a three day "summit" on global travel and tourism have repeatedly questioned whether the administration recognizes that its visa policies are constraining US competitiveness.
Valerie Jarrett, a close adviser to Obama, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood insisted Obama's administration understood the importance of tourism in generating jobs and growth, but were non-committal on the visa issues.
"We understand each other's challenges. We know what you want to do," Jarrett said. "You understand the challenges we have in keeping America safe and making sure we have processes in place that will do that," she said.
Industry leaders say backlogged visa applications under rules imposed after the September 2011 attacks have created huge barriers to US travel from emerging powers like China, India and Brazil, which are seeing explosive growth in travel and tourism.
They clearly hope that international travel from those countries will lift an industry that was especially hard hit during the recent recession.
The US Travel Association last week called on the administration to expand by 400 the number of people processing visas in China and Brazil, allow the use of videoconferencing for visa interviews, and explore visa waiver programs with countries like Brazil.
Visa waits in those countries can run to 100 or 120 days, discouraging travel to the United States.
LaHood, at a session earlier in the day, sidestepped those issues while touting the administration's plans for inter-city high speed rail and road projects as a way to generate jobs and make America more attractive to tourists.
"We get it," he said. "We think all of you contribute mightily ... to our economy."
But a member of the audience told LaHood there was "a general lack of understanding," and that he should work to get Congress "to focus on the things that will really have a lasting impact."
Jarrett, picking up on an allusion to Obama's Vegas remarks in her session at the meeting, she said the president's comment had been taken "totally out of context (and) got blown up."
"The president promotes business travel all the time. The more you say you're not certain he's convinced, you kind of create a self-fulfilling prophecy there," she said.
"I think it's time to move on, I really do," she said.