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It’s no surprise that the leisure and hospitality sector of the economy, which includes tourism and transportation, has been impacted the hardest during this pandemic. Travel was among the first to be impacted and will see a slower recovery across the board.
U.S. Travel Association is among several organizations renewing its pleas for leaders in Washington to return to the negotiating table and finalize another coronavirus-related relief package—which has been stalled for weeks now as COVID-19 cases continue to tick upward.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow
A report prepared for the U.S. Travel Association by Tourism Economics finds a bevy of chilling jobs figures—and underscores the fact that an overall U.S. employment recovery will not be successful unless the hard-hit travel and tourism industry can be safely restarted:
- 40 percent of excess U.S. unemployment is in the Leisure and Hospitality (L&H) sector, despite that sector accounting for 11 percent of all pre-pandemic employment in the U.S.
- Despite some jobs being slowly restored with the onset of the spring and summer travel seasons, more than a quarter of all L&H workers remain unemployed—double the next hardest hit industry (mining).
- Nearly half of the 16.9 million jobs in the L&H sector were wiped out in March and April.
- If every industry recovered to its pre-pandemic employment level except for L&H, the overall employment rate would fall from 10.2 percent to 6.2 percent—still 2.7 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
“If the primary point of aid from Washington is to help U.S. employers and working Americans, then by every objective measure the American travel and tourism industry ought to be right at the top of the priority list,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. “Substantial portions of the travel sector missed out on earlier rounds of relief, and if the next deal doesn’t get done, the acute pain being felt by travel workers is going to extend through and well after the election. We are pleading with congressional and administration leaders to return to the negotiating table and pass the relief enhancements that are going to help protect millions of jobs in each and every state and congressional district in every corner of the country.”
The travel industry has called for a series of legislative priorities that should be included in a final relief deal—particularly enhancement and expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program to provide aid to travel organizations that have yet to be able to access the program.
The full report can be read here.
Visit ustravel.org for more information.
[08.14.20]
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Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) member companies worldwide report an emerging willingness to permit employees to engage in domestic business travel, according to the latest poll conducted by the association between August 5-9, 2020.
Respondents to the poll, the 10th biweekly survey conducted among GBTA’s members since the onset of the pandemic in February, continue to report virtually no willingness for employees to travel internationally, with 93 percent indicating the pandemic has curtailed all or most international business trips. By comparison, 74 percent of respondents report that the pandemic has curtailed all or most of their organization’s domestic business trips.
That number has fallen by 19 percentage points since GBTA’s mid-April poll of members and the lowest level since the pre-pandemic polling in late winter 2020.
“The business travel landscape continues to be difficult in Europe and the U.S., but we do see some small glimmers of recovery here and there,” said GBTA Interim Executive Director Dave Hilfman. “More companies look to be trending positively on domestic trips, with Europe still showing the most positive uplift.”
In Europe, the outlook remains more positive as 70 percent of GBTA members in Europe expect domestic business travel to return in the next 2-3 months compared to just 26 percent in North America. Likewise, members based in Europe are more likely to expect international business travel to resume in the next 2-3 months (20 percent) than members based in North America (9 percent).
Three in four respondents (74 percent) report that their company has started to formulate a travel recovery plan. Tighter booking channels are a trend, with 66 percent of respondents stating they are less likely to allow travelers to book directly with suppliers and 65 percent are less likely to allow travelers to book with an online travel agency than before the pandemic.
When asked about new safety measures, personal protective equipment (PPE) is the new business travel accessory. One-third (31 percent) of GBTA member companies plan to provide PPE for their travelers while 20 percent require their travelers to provide their own as an essential item for their safe return to travel. Only 6 percent report that their company is not making PPE mandatory for travelers.
While recovery plans are underway, the return to travel remains slow and is taking longer than previously expected. Suppliers (84 percent) are more likely than travel managers (73 percent) to say that business travel has resumed more slowly than they had originally expected.
“It is encouraging to see so many members companies working on travel recovery plans in preparation for their return to travel, with virtually all our members keeping employees’ health and safety as their primary concern,” says Hilfman. “New considerations such as PPE are being added to travel policy and GBTA is supporting members and the industry to ensure consistent health and safety measures across all sectors on a global basis.”
View the entire poll results here
Methodology
GBTA conducted a poll of its members across the globe from August 5-8, 2020. A total of 827 responses were received.
Visit gbta.org for more information.
[08.14.20]
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- Category: Industry News
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), an organization that represents the interests of the international business travel community, recently released a press release emphasizing the importance of cooperation between the EU, Canada, and the U.S. to restore safe travels and reboot the economy. GBTA is urging the European Commission, EU governments, Ottawa, and the White House to pursue talks to find a resolution for transatlantic travel, based on reciprocity, proportionality, and the latest scientific advice.
Due to COVID-19, both Canada and numerous member countries of the EU have restricted all non-essential travel (e.g., tourism) for U.S. travelers, citing the increasing numbers of positive cases in the States. A number of other countries, including those on the African and Asian continents, have closed to their borders to all travelers.
Interim Executive Director of GBTA Dave Hilfman
“GBTA has repeatedly called on these governments to adopt a coordinated approach in responding to COVID-19 and the evolving situation. As a select number of countries recently chose to reinstate travel restrictions, we would like to stress the importance of closely following the recommendations of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure consistency and restore consumer confidence in air travel,” said GBTA Interim Executive Director Dave Hilfman. “We encourage open conversations to continue, as well as appropriate communication to the general public. Maintaining transatlantic ties is in the interest of citizens and the economy.”
“Safety is paramount and should weigh heavily in discussions of restarting travel. Contact-tracing applications can effectively help fight the pandemic but can only do so if they are subject to a common set of standards to enable rapid exchange of information and limit the risks of further outbreaks,” said Mark Cuschieri, GBTA Chair European Advisory Board.
You can view a full list of restrictions to and from the U.S. here or here.
Visit gbta.org for more information.
[08.14.20]