ASTA praises Covid relief bill: Travel Weekly

ASTA on Thursday lauded a bill passed in the House that would provide relief to the businesses hit the hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is not tied to any specific industries, unlike previous legislation. The Society also encouraged the Senate to adopt a similar approach to future relief.

“While it will take several years for the travel agency industry to return to health, we believe this bill, coupled with modifying the CDC’s international air travel testing rule, will help speed this recovery and put travel agencies in a position to better serve the traveling public,” Eben Peck, ASTA’s executive vice president of advocacy, said in a statement.

The bill passed in the House — the Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act of 2022 — would set aside $13 billion for a new program, the Hard Hit Industries Awards Program. As its name suggests, it is designed to help businesses that were the hardest hit by Covid-19 but not eligible for aid under either the Restaurant Revitalization Fund or the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program.

According to ASTA, the program is for businesses with 200 or fewer employees. They must have suffered at least 40% of pandemic-related revenue loss in 2020 and 2021, averaged together, compared with 2019. Independent contractors are eligible if they meet the requirements.

Grants up to $1 million are authorized. But, the Society notes, “award amounts may be reduced if demand exceeds the funding.”

Additionally, revenue-loss calculations must take into account any grant amount a business previously received under the Paycheck Protection Program or the EIDL program.

Businesses that report 80% or greater revenue loss will be prioritized, according to ASTA, followed by those with losses of 60%. If a business qualifies, grant money can be used for a number of things, including payroll, mortgage or rent and other operational expenses.

Recent ASTA member surveys indicate average agency revenue levels are still down 71% compared with 2019, Peck said.

He specifically applauded the fact that the bill is industry neutral.

“As the Senate considers its own version of pandemic relief, ASTA strongly urges Senators to adopt a similar industry-neutral approach instead of pursuing legislation where winners and losers are cherry picked by Congress across the varying sectors affected by the pandemic,” he said. “Doing so leaves travel advisors (and many other sectors) by the wayside and the traveling public without the assistance it needs to navigate ever-changing rules and restrictions.”

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