It's official: When the recession hit, the travel industry took it in the teeth.
New data from the Commerce Department confirm that the industry has been facing its most difficult economic environment since 9/11, and by some measures the worst on record.
In a quarterly report on the travel and tourism satellite accounts for spending and employment, the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said consumer spending for travel and tourism contracted 15.4% in the first quarter, a $53.3 billion decline and a steeper drop than the 4.6% drop in the gross domestic product.
The transportation sector accounted for 75% of the decline, or nearly $40 billion.
Coupled with the 22.5% decline reported in the final quarter of 2008, the result is the worst six-month period on record, representing a $139 billion hit.
Direct employment, meanwhile, fell by 99,000 jobs in the first quarter, dropping to 5.7 million, a four-year low. The department said it was the biggest quarterly drop since the fourth quarter of 2001.
The accommodations sector was the hardest hit, losing 45,000 jobs in the quarter.
"Total employment," a broader measure that includes direct employment plus jobs supported by tourism, fell 6.8%, to 8.4 million, resulting in the loss of 149,000 jobs supported by travel and tourism.