A bill introduced on the House floor this week would, if passed, include travel agencies in the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, which could provide those eligible with up to $10 million in grants based on 2019 revenue. ASTA has lobbied for travel agency inclusion in the program in recent months and applauded the introduction of the Securing Access for Venue Equity (Save) Act.
"We strongly support the Save Act, which would give our members access to grants of up to $10 million to help their businesses recover from the ravages of Covid-19," ASTA president and CEO Zane Kerby said in a statement. "This support is sorely needed, as the travel agency sector has been catastrophically impacted and faces a longer recovery window than virtually any other industry."
The bill was introduced with bipartisan support by Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.).
Zane Kerby
The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program was created by the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021. Administered by the Small Business Administration's Office of Disaster Assistance, it includes more than $16 billion in grants for shuttered venues. Applicants can qualify for grants in the amount of 45% of their 2019 gross earned revenue, capped at $10 million.
"As we have said time and again, when government action has a disproportionally negative impact on a specific industry, it is a matter of fundamental fairness that the government provide targeted relief to the businesses most severely affected," Kerby said. "With this principle as our North Star, we will keep fighting for relief until the travel agency sector is restored to health."
Amendments had been offered to the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to include travel agencies in the grant program but ultimately were not accepted.