U.S. Travel Applauds Work on Coronavirus Relief Bill

U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the latest congressional negotiations on a coronavirus relief package:

“We applaud the progress being made by congressional leaders and champions to help the 15.8 million Americans whose jobs depend on the travel industry. It is critical that the Phase 3 relief package include strong measures to preserve the jobs of travel workers both during and while recovering from this catastrophic national public health disaster. We continue to urge Congress to ensure businesses have access to loans and that the process for securing them is rapid. The amount of liquidity made available to businesses must be bold at this dire time—at least $250 billion or more. Also, measures must be included to ensure that: businesses are better able to utilize the SBA loan option quickly; to offer loan forgiveness coupled with employee retention; and to provide access for properties and facilities with 500 employees.

“Without this help, as many as 4.6 million employees in travel-related jobs could lose their jobs in the next 6-8 weeks.

“We thank congressional leaders for their hard work and focus to help people keep their jobs, and employers keep their businesses. Bold action is needed during this unprecedented national crisis, and we are heartened that Washington has shown willingness to consider unprecedented steps to fight it.”