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Days after the US reopened its land and air borders to vaccinated international visitors on November 8, US Travel Association (USTA) released its biannual forecast that shows an uneven recovery for the international inbound and business travel segments, signaling a bumpy few years ahead. Domestic leisure travel, on the other hand, has returned to near pre-pandemic levels.
USTA's forecast, based on analysis from Tourism Economics, projects that domestic leisure travel will continue to drive the US travel industry’s recovery in the near term. This segment is projected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and beyond.
Domestic business travel spending is expected to reach 76 percent of 2019 levels in 2022 while the segment is not expected to fully recover until 2024.
US Travel Association President & CEO Roger Dow
International inbound travel spending is forecasted to reach 72 percent of 2019 levels in 2022. The segment is not expected to fully recover until 2024 or 2025.
“While we see reason for optimism on the horizon, our forecast reveals that travel’s recovery is uneven with much work ahead to ensure all segments reach pre-pandemic levels,” said USTA President & CEO Roger Dow. “We believe that the US can implement smart, effective policies that bring back international visitors more quickly and spur business and professional travel to accelerate an economic and jobs rebound.”
USTA has advocated for some policies to accelerate the travel industry’s recovery, including:
- Fully reopening and resuming visitor visa processing at US embassies and consulates
- Ensuring Customs and Border Protection and Transportation Security Administration officers are adequately resourced
- Passing the Restoring Brand USA Act to provide emergency relief funding to Brand USA, the United States’ destination marketing organization
- Enacting temporary tax credits to restore demand for in-person professional meetings and events
“Stabilizing policies can help ensure a more even recovery as we aim to restore the US as the top destination in the world for global travelers,” added Dow.
The full forecast can be read here.
Visit ustravel.org for more information.
[11.16.21]
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The results are in! After calling for nominees for several of the association’s open seats back in October, National Limousine Association (NLA) President Robert Alexander of RMA Worldwide announced the results of the fall election late last week.
And the winners are ...
At-Large Region: Jason Kaplan of The Driver Provider
Central Region: Karl Guenther of Statement Limousine
Northeast Region: Jeff Rose of Attitude New York
West Region: Kevin Illingworth of Classique Worldwide Transportation
Canada: Joe Ironi of Global Alliance Worldwide Chauffeured Services
International: Karim Maachi of Cardel Global
In his weekly letter to NLA members, Alexander thanked those who took the time to vote in the election as well as all the candidates.
“Running for the NLA Board is just the first step of commitment to serve and improve our industry. There are many ways for all members to get involved, whether it be serving on a committee, participating in show events, etc. I urge those who did not see success in this year's election to consider running again and to also find other ways to contribute, make a difference and hopefully inspire others to run as well,” he said.
Visit limo.org for more information.
[11.16.21]
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American Bus Association (ABA) President & CEO Peter Pantuso was recently a guest on Varney & Co. on Fox Business to discuss the state of the bus industry. The association has been fighting for federal assistance to assist the slow recovery of bus and motorcoach operators, many of which are family-owned businesses.
ABA President & CEO Peter Pantuso discusses the state of the bus industry
The bus industry scored a victory when the CERTS Act was passed in late 2020 and funds were dispersed in late summer, providing federal grants to beleaguered operators. However, associations like ABA and the United Motorcoach Association argued that the funding was too late and too little for many, and have argued for additional funds for the program thorough 2022. The return of travel has been uneven as many businesses are still employing remote workers and capping corporate travel.
The full video can be viewed here.
In other news, ABA was one of more than 100 associations and organizations that signed on to a letter to oppose the anticipated changes to the estate tax in Congress’ Build Back Better framework. The Build Back Better bill is meant to complement the recently passed infrastructure bill by providing small business assistance, expanded Medicare coverage, reduced costs for child care, and expanded education for pre-K and community college students, to name a few. The changes to the tax would be used to pay for the proposed programs.
According to the letter, which was addressed to Chairman Ron Wyden of the Senate Finance Committee and Chairman Richard Neal of the House Ways and Means Committee: “Earlier this year, both the small business and agriculture communities identified taxing unrealized capital gains at death—a kind of ‘double death tax’—as an unworkable policy for family businesses. … Family businesses across a wide number of industries tend to operate on small margins with their value almost entirely tied up in equipment, machinery, land, buildings, and other non-cash assets. That makes paying taxes on imaginary gains problematic. It also creates difficulties when attempting to pay estate taxes when no profitable sale has occurred, only the death of a business owner. Family businesses without sufficient liquid reserves to pay new taxes on capital and a more aggressive estate tax will be forced to fire workers, close branches, or shut down the businesses altogether. No family business should be forced into losing their business, employees, and their legacy in order to pay multiple layers of tax on the same dollar.”
The letter stresses that Congress “should be single-mindedly focused on helping small businesses keep their doors open and their workers employed,” especially as the recovery has been shaky for many small and family-owned businesses.
The full letter is available here.
[11.16.21]