ASTA is asking travel advisors to contact Congress and ask Senators and Representatives to act to save travel advisors.
"I'll get right to the point," writes Zane Kerby, ASTA president and CEO, in an open letter. "Because of state-by-state quarantines, international border closures and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) "No Sail" order affecting cruises, among other factors, travel demand is still at a small fraction of pre-pandemic levels. Sadly, travel is no closer to the recovery many expected would come in the second half of 2020 when the federal CARES Act was passed in March. Many of those CARES Act programs are now expiring, and without additional relief we face the prospect of widespread agency closures and mass layoffs."
Congress is now working on the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation, Kerby notes that it is critical that the travel industry receives additional aid.
" What is being negotiated now will likely be the last COVID relief bill, and we have a short window to affect the legislative process," he wrote.
ASTA has created an easy-to-use form to fill out and let your Congressperson know the importance of this aid to travel advisors.
If you are among the 5,659 people who have already used our portal to engage, we thank you," Kerby concludes. "If you haven't, please do so today and encourage your peers, friends and family to do the same."
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