US Travel Pushes for Specific Policy Actions as Spending Expected to Plunge

The U.S. Travel Association is calling on Congress to take immediate action to support the travel industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic, citing dire spending projections.

New figures released by U.S. Travel predict that travel spending in the U.S. will finish the pandemic-plagued year down 45 percent compared to 2019 and not recover to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2024. The estimated $617 billion is slightly down from U.S. Travel's previous forecast of $622 billion in July. Last year, nearly twice as much—a total of $1.13 trillion—was spent on travel in the U.S.

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While domestic leisure travel spending has been hit hard, down 34 percent, the domestic business (55 percent) and international inbound (77 percent) markets have experienced even more dramatic declines.

As a result, U.S. Travel is recommending lawmakers take specific policy actions right now, including enhancing and extending the Paycheck Protection Program through the end of 2021 and expanding eligibility. The organization is also encouraging Congress to enhance and extend the Coronavirus Relief Fund through at least the end of 2021 and provide additional emergency assistance to the nation's airports.

"A lot of businesses that need help to retain and rehire their people won’t be there in January if we wait until the next Congress to get more aid passed," U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow said in a statement. "The pain among travel employers is extremely acute, and so is the frustration that Washington has been unable to act so far given the size and obviousness of this problem."

The travel industry currently accounts for one-third of overall unemployment in the U.S., with nearly 40 percent or 3.5 million of all direct travel jobs going away over the past seven months. However, U.S. Travel forecasts that those numbers could climb by year's end when another million direct travel jobs could disappear in the absence of another round of relief.