by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:36 AM ET, Fri February 26, 2021
The U.S. Travel Association has come out in support of the bipartisan Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act presented to Congress this week.
The bill would provide much-needed assistance to the devastated travel industry through numerous key COVID-19 incentive and relief measures. Travel saw a decline of around $500 billion in spending last year, while almost four in 10 U.S. jobs lost in 2020 were in the leisure and hospitality sector.
As for the details of the Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act, the bill provides several initiatives needed to help bring back the millions of travel jobs lost to the coronavirus pandemic.
-A temporary business tax credit to revitalize business meetings, conferences, and other structured events.
-A temporarily restored entertainment business expense deduction to help entertainment venues and performing arts centers recover.
-An individual tax credit to stimulate non-business travel.
-Tax relief for restaurants and food and beverage companies to help restore food service jobs and strengthen the entire American food supply chain.
"The evidence is abundantly clear: there will not be a U.S. economic recovery without a travel recovery, and travel cannot recover without strong and innovative policy assistance," U.S. Travel Association CEO Roger Dow said. "Even with the ray of hope provided by vaccines, it is unclear when travel demand will be able to rebound in earnest. This bill contains critical provisions to assist in rebuilding this crucial but suffering American industry."
To show industry-wide support for the bipartisan legislation, the U.S. Travel Association submitted a letter to Capitol Hill signed by more than 80 major travel-related companies and organizations.
The principal sponsors of the Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act are Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Representatives Steven Horsford (D-NV), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Tom Rice (R-SC) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA).
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