In a week in which calls for economic support for the travel industry from the federal government reached fever pitch in Canada, the US Travel Association (USTA) praised the introduction of bill south of the border (and advancement of another) that would provide numerous key incentive and relief measures to the sector.
The USTA says the assistance provided by the newly introduced bipartisan Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act is “much needed” for a travel industry that has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic and addresses one of its key legislative priorities in helping to bring back the millions of travel jobs lost to the global health crisis.
Specifically, the bill provides:
• A temporary business tax credit to revitalize business meetings, conferences, and other structured events.
• A temporarily restored entertainment business expense deduction to help entertainment venues and performing arts centres recover.
• An individual tax credit to stimulate non-business travel.
• Tax relief for restaurants and food and beverage companies to help restore food service jobs and strengthen the entire American food supply chain.
USTA says that travel is by far the hardest-hit industry by the COVID pandemic, losing half a trillion dollars in travel-related spending last year – 10 times the negative economic impact of 9/11 – and noting that almost four in 10 US jobs lost in 2020 are in the leisure and hospitality sector.
“The evidence is abundantly clear: there will not be a US economic recovery without a travel recovery, and travel cannot recover without strong and innovative policy assistance,” said USTA President and CEO Roger Dow. “Even with the ray of hope provided by vaccines, it is unclear when travel demand will be able to rebound in earnest. This bill contains critical provisions to assist in rebuilding this crucial but suffering American industry.”
US Travel says it is leading a campaign to secure support for the Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act, submitting a letter to Capitol Hill signed by more than 80 major travel-related companies and organizations.
Said Dow: “For months we have been urging Congress to provide stimulus for travel demand in addition to the relief this industry so badly needs, and we thank the sponsors for advancing this bill that would do so much to spur recovery.”
COVID relief
On Saturday, the USTA similarly welcomed the passage of a US $1.9-trillion pandemic relief bill in Congress as “one important step” that would “help accelerate the travel industry’s recovery from the devastating impacts of the virus. Among them: resources for vaccine distribution, airport funding, and Economic Development Administration grants.”
But association executive VP for public affairs Tori Emerson Barnes was quick to state: “Given the severity of the impact on the travel and tourism industry, more work remains to provide critical recovery and stimulus measures to safely restore our industry…”
She added, “We also call on Congress to pass the Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act, and to dedicate additional funding for travel promotion grants.”
Canada
At the same time ACTA welcomed federal government extensions of CRB and EI support programs for Canadians (12 and 24 weeks respectively), but declared that the retail travel industry still needs much more support if it is to survive the pandemic.
“Our message to the government is plain and simple, our industry needs financial support now and well into the future,” said association president Wendy Paradis, adding that ACTA has submitted its own Tourism and Travel Industry Recovery Plan to several key federal government ministries for consideration.
Hopes are that aid will be offered in this year’s federal budget, though a date for the document to be tabled has not yet been determined.
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