U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), the Chair of the Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion, convened a hearing titled, "Investing In America's Tourism and Hospitality Workforce and Small Businesses."
Witnesses included Drew Daly, senior vice president and general manager of CruiseOne, Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc. travel franchises as well as Bill Lupfer, President and CEO, Florida Attractions Association; Shaundell Newsome, Chair, Urban Chamber of Commerce Las Vegas; and D. Taylor, president of UNITE HERE.
Senators and witnesses testified as to the challenges currently facing the travel industry as a whole and in particular the slow restart to cruising and the difficulties in bringing back a robust travel and tourism labor force.
Daly pointed out in his testimony that cruising is still lagging and highlighted the issue travel advisors face when it comes to payment for services rendered.
"Today, more than 70 percent of our cruise bookings are for 2022 departures," said Daly. "Despite industry-leading protocols and proven sailings in other regions of the world, it has been almost 16 months since cruise ships departed from U.S. ports. Although we do see hope for a restart of cruises on the horizon, tens of thousands of small business owners in the cruise community have been directly impacted by the suspension of cruise operations and without revenue for 16 months. The biggest hurdle now for the continued success of our travel advisors is for cruising and all forms of travel to come back full throttle."
Daly noted that progress is being made when Congress waived the requirement of the Passenger Vessel Services Act for Alaska cruises.
"Alaska is a critical cruise market, not just in terms of cruise bookings, but also the jobs supported by the cruise passengers that visit the state," he said.
However, Daly pointed out that, while the industry is coming back, things won't change overnight.
"We have seen a number of our travel advisors shift gears and do their best to make a living during this downturn," he said. "In Florida, several locations, unfortunately, closed their doors and others who have resorted to other sources of income."
While the government provided assistance to travel advisors through the CARES Act and through PPP loans, some newer to the industry are still struggling.
"Because travel advisors make money on departures, we have many new small business owners who have made sales but have not yet earned anything," said Daly. "Since they had no income at the time, they did not qualify for CARES Act relief funding."
As PPP is also winding down, Daly suggested Congress put forth more targeted relief programs for sectors that will take longer to recover.
Lupfer also praised the government for its assistance to small businesses, many of which are part of the Florida Attraction Association.
"The state's largest attractions, Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Parks and Merlin Entertainments are members; however, most of our members are small businesses. Only 10% of our members are publicly traded companies," he said.
Lupfer pointed out the need for clear guidance for industries reopening as the pandemic begins to slow.
"Clear policy coordination between agencies such as the CDC, Department of Transportation, OSHA and other public-facing agencies with timely guidance on defeating the pandemic is needed," he said, noting that recent changes on mask guidance were welcome but the "swiftness" of the changes left businesses scrambling.
Lupfer also highlighted the labor shortage, a problem that is having a big effect on the industry as a whole.
Taylor, who heads Unite Here which represents more than 300,000 workers in hospitality, noted that many tourism-related companies, especially hotels, are not bringing back the same number of employees they had before.
"Some have suggested that Americans who are laid-off and on unemployment just don't want to return to work," he said in his written testimony. "In fact, employers in the hospitality industry are trying to reduce staffing, and the way to help get Americans back to work is not by slashing the safety net but by holding hospitality companies accountable to bring jobs back."
Taylor noted that some companies are using the pandemic to "make jobs worse" or eliminate them altogether by denying workers "recall rights," subcontracting or simply cutting jobs.
Taylor asked Congress to "hold hospitality companies accountable and fight against a jobless recovery by making federal assistance conditional on recipients rehiring their long-time workers with good wages and benefits."
Newsome, who testified on behalf of the Urban Chamber of Commerce Las Vegas, said that investing in America's tourism and hospitality sector is a "safe bet": "I implore this committee to double down on the recent successful American Rescue Plan by investing in America's Tourism and Hospitality Workforce and Small Businesses to rebuild our economy. In addition, we should push all of our chips to middle of the table on the American Jobs Plan to rebuild our infrastructure and create necessary job opportunities for individuals and contracts for small businesses."
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