U.S. Travel Reacts to Release of Additional H-2B Visas

U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the Biden administration’s release of 20,000 additional H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2022:

“The release of these additional visas is a good start to address the U.S. travel industry’s significant workforce challenges, but more is needed to ensure businesses are adequately staffed—particularly ahead of the busy summer travel season when so many businesses rely on access to temporary workers to sustain operations.

“With more than 1.5 million job openings in the Leisure & Hospitality sector alone, we respectfully urge the administration to release additional H-2B visas, which will be instrumental in facilitating an even recovery across all sectors of travel. U.S. Travel thanks the administration for their attention to this critical labor issue and stands ready to assist as we continue through this period of economic recovery.”