The latest unemployment figures prepared for the U.S. Travel Association by Tourism Economics paint a dire picture: The travel-dependent leisure and hospitality industry is suffering from a 15 percent unemployment rate—more than double the national level (6.7 percent).
Any early signs of a modest recovery for the sector—which accounted for 11 percent of all pre-pandemic employment in the U.S. yet has suffered 35 percent of all pandemic-related job losses—have been effectively extinguished, according to U.S. Travel. The leisure and hospitality industry resurged slightly in September with 413,000 new jobs but declined over the past three months, adding only 31,000 jobs in November. In all, 16.9 million jobs in the industry were lost in March and April and only 4.9 million have been created or restored.
These distressing figures arrive as Congress continues to negotiate a coronavirus relief package before the end of the year, without which the travel industry’s recovery will be even more challenging. Earlier estimates from Tourism Economics indicated that 50 percent of all direct travel jobs will be lost by the end of December without federal relief—an additional loss of 948,000 jobs and a total loss of 4.5 million direct travel jobs.
While the report does note that “positive results from vaccine trials put an end of the pandemic in sight,” rising COVID19 cases, non-uniform reopening protocols, and the uncertainty surrounding a new round of relief “present tangible risks to the leisure and hospitality industry’s already precarious situation.”
U.S. Travel says it will continue to engage with Congress and impress upon legislators the importance of passing a coronavirus relief package before the end of the year. Crucially, the travel industry is asking, at the very least, for a relief package to include measures to enhance and extend the Paycheck Protection Program through the end of 2021, expand eligibility to include 501(c)(6) and quasi-governmental destination marketing organizations and allow for a second draw on loans for the hardest-hit industries.
Source: U.S. Travel Association
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