A report from the U.S. Travel Association has found that a full third of all the jobs lost in the U.S. are travel-related, which is nine times greater than the impact the industry felt after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The association estimates that, by the end of April, eight million of the 24 million travel jobs in the country will be lost. The report also found that travel spending will top half a trillion dollars by the end of 2020.
"The CARES Act was a good start, but the data shows there is still extreme and mounting pain in the American travel industry," said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. "We're appealing for fixes, the addition of more relief, faster rules, and greater flexibility."
The association also requested the Paycheck Protection Program be refunded.
The relief program needs to fit the crisis, and we're still learning the magnitude and intricacies of this particular crisis," Dow said.
The report paints a dire economic picture within the industry.
Analysis by Tourism Economics found that overall travel spending last week plunged to $2.9 billion-an 85 percent drop since the first week of March and 87 percent lower than the same week in 2019, according to a separate analysis by Tourism Economics.
Data from MMGY Travel Intelligence revealed that 90 percent of travelers surveyed had some type of travel or travel-related activity planned prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and 80 percent of those either canceled or postponed those plans.
U.S. Travel is also urging Congress to take action on several other points:
-Expand eligibility for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to DMOs
-Appropriate an additional $600 billion for the PPP and extend the coverage period through December 2020
-Revise the PPP maximum loan calculation to 8x a business' monthly outlays, and allow it to cover both payroll and non-payroll expenses.
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