as long as taxpayers foot the bill, a lot are willing to help
I'm OK with it as a first step. The first voyage of Columbus was funded by Spain and crewed by convicts. Following trips were heavily funded by private investors and crewed by men seeking their fortunes. The same is true of Lewis and Clark. They did the government funded pathfinding and prospecting but were followed by a flood of private explorers.
I think we need both a federal (Military) and private presence in space and this is a start.
I don't really see a huge financial gain in space hotels and rides on spaceships but I think they have value in the sense that they make men want to go further. When I mentioned to Chis Hadfield on twitter that I could never be satisfied with the ISS he agreed that it was hard to be on the space station and know he wasn't going further.
The further a man goes, the further he wants to go.