Travel-related job losses will hit nearly 6 million by the
end of April and the industry will lose $80 million in revenue next month
alone, according to the latest projections from the U.S. Travel Association and
Tourism Economics.
The revised projections released Tuesday show 4.7 million
direct travel jobs and 5.9 million travel-supported jobs will be lost by the
end of next month, up from estimates a week earlier that predicted 4.6 million travel-related
jobs were in jeopardy.
The analysis also estimates that travel industry revenue for
March and April will be down 78%, with $80 million in lost revenue in April
alone.
“The coronavirus crisis is hitting the travel economy hard,
and it’s also hitting fast,” said U.S. Travel Association CEO Roger Dow. “These
new figures underscore the extreme urgency of financial relief for travel
businesses -- 83% of which are small businesses -- so they can keep paying
their employees. Not only are workers suffering right now, but if employers are
forced to close their doors, it is unknown when or if those jobs will ever come
back.”
Other key findings in the latest analysis:
• The loss in travel-related jobs alone will more than
double the U.S. unemployment rate from 3.5% to 7.1% by the end of April.
• The expected loss of $910 billion in travel-related
economic output in 2020 would be seven times the impact of 9/11.
• The predicted slowdown in the travel sector alone will
push the U.S. economy into a protracted recession.
U.S. Travel is urging the inclusion of numerous relief
measures for travel businesses in the coronavirus rescue package being
negotiated in Congress, including access to small-business loans, a workforce
stabilization fund to help medium-sized and large travel businesses retain
their workers and remain solvent, and tax relief to help mitigate losses.
Travel supports 15.8 million American jobs in total, or
employment for one out of every 10 Americans, according to U.S. Travel.
“The health crisis deserves the government’s full attention,
but the economic crisis will be worse and longer without aggressive action to
confront it right now,” Dow said. “Businesses can’t keep their lights on if
they don’t have any customers, and they don’t have any customers because of the
actions that are necessary to stem the spread of coronavirus. The resulting
closures will take the greatest toll on the frontline employees who can least
afford to lose their jobs -- waitstaff, housekeepers, concession workers, etc.
“Robust intervention by the federal government is the only avenue
to make sure those outcomes are minimized.”