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Total spending on domestic travel will drop 45% by the end of this year and inbound travel spending will fall 75%, according to a Tourism Economics forecast.
The report, prepared for the U.S. Travel Association, estimates that spending by domestic travelers will sink from $972 billion last year to $583 billion in 2020, while total spending by international visitors will drop from $155 billion to $39 billion.
The analysis is based on estimates that total domestic leisure trips will drop from 1.8 billion in 2019 to 1.3 billion this year, while business trips are expected to fall to 300 million from 462 million.
The number of international visitors will total just 29 million, compared to 79.3 last year, the report projects.
“The data is telling us that travel and tourism has been more severely damaged than any other U.S. industry by the economic fallout of the health crisis,” said Tori Barnes, U.S. Travel Association executive vice president for public affairs and policy. “Given that travel employed one in 10 Americans and was the No. 2 U.S. export before the pandemic, supporting this industry through to the recovery phase ought to be a national priority.”
U.S. Travel released the grim numbers as it begins its “Virtual Hill Week,” connecting members of the industry with lawmakers to push for tax relief, extension of the Paycheck Protection Program to destination marketing organizations, protection from frivolous Covid-19-related lawsuits and a federal pandemic risk insurance program. The group said nearly 300 industry members will participate in 75 online meetings with lawmakers in the House and Senate.
Source: travelweekly.com
