The U.S. Travel Association on Friday called on the Biden Administration and Congress to bolster international and business travel to help with the recovery of leisure and hospitality (L&H) jobs, the hardest-hit sector of the travel industry.
The request stemmed from a generally good jobs report also released on Friday, but noting that nearly three-quarters of all jobs lost due to the pandemic are in L&H.
"The sector's uneven recovery is due to the lack of available workers, and revenues are down due to a lack of inbound international travelers and the deep reduction in business travel and professional events," the U.S. Travel Association said in a statement. "While overall U.S. employment is just 1.4 percent below 2019 levels, L&H is down a disproportionate 9 percent. Urgent action is needed by both the administration and Congress to bolster inbound international travel, restore business travel and ensure an even recovery across all sectors."
U.S. Travel is asking for the following:
-- Removing the pre-departure testing requirement for all fully vaccinated inbound international arrivals.
-- Providing emergency support for Brand USA through the passage of the Restoring Brand USA Act.
-- Raising the cap on H-2B visas to ease the absence of labor for the more than one million job openings in the Leisure & Hospitality industry.
-- And providing targeted, temporary tax credits and deductions to stimulate spending on business travel, live entertainment and in-person events.
"Today's job numbers reflect the great need to accelerate the return of business and international inbound travel and the recovery of these L&H positions," the group said.
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