Travel Spending Dropped by 42% in 2020

US Travel Association discovered that travel spending in the US dropped by 42% from 2019 to 2020. From having an economic output equivalent to $2.6 trillion in 2019, it shrank to just $1.5 trillion by 2020. That’s equivalent to a more than $1 trillion in deficit. And as US travel spending dropped, US tax revenue dropped as well by as much as $57 billion last year.

The travel industry is among the most affected sectors by the pandemic. The Biden administration even approved a bailout to help the airline industry stay afloat. The travel and tourism industry employs 11% of the US workforce. And by 2020, the industry experienced a large number of job losses. From 16.7 million jobs, it dropped to 11.1 million in 2020. That figure amounts to 65% of American jobs lost that year.

Rebound is Still Unclear

US Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow believes that “turnaround may be on the horizon”. However, he also believes that things are still uncertain for the industry. He added that “it is still unclear when travel demand will be able to fully rebound on its own”.

As more Americans get vaccinated, more travel destinations could open in the coming months. Disney announced that it is already opening its theme parks in California by end of April. After lifting some pandemic restrictions, travel-related employment improved this year. In February, the number of leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 355,000.

It was reported that a lot of travelers, despite the risks, had their spring break. On March 12, 1.3 million individuals flew by air according to the Transportation Security Administration. Health officials warn that this could be a repeat of last year which surged COVID19 cases.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention decided to have a more conservative approach to not encourage travel. In fact, The CDC still recommends vaccinated Americans to avoid unnecessary travel. The agency also plans to update its travel advisory when the vaccination rollout reached more people.