Pushing the recovery forward and securing continued relief for hard-hit travel agencies will be among the primary policy focuses of the U.S. travel industry in 2022.<\/p>\n
“We’ll continue to watch for variants of concern, but we’ll want to be vigilant that we don’t have a backslide to closures or more difficult entry requirements,” said Tori Emerson Barnes, the U.S. Travel Association’s executive vice president of public affairs and policy.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, ASTA says that the travel agency workforce has been reduced by 40,000 since the start of the pandemic and that average travel agency revenues remain 71% below the pre-pandemic level.<\/p>\n
Eben Peck, ASTA’s executive vice president of advocacy, said its three primary legislative priorities for next year relate to financially assisting agencies or to spurring travel industry job recovery.<\/p>\n
The Save Act, introduced in the House of Representatives in March, would make travel agencies eligible for federal grants of up to 45% of their 2019 gross revenue, with grants capped at $10 million.<\/p>\n
The Hospitality & Commerce Job Recovery Act, introduced in the Senate in February, would support conventions and trade shows by establishing a tax credit to offset the cost of attending or hosting a convention through 2024. It would also provide a tax credit of up to $750 per person or $1,500 for a married couple for general travel expenses.
ASTA also is pushing for an extension of the Employee Retention Tax Credit. The program, which provided a refundable tax credit of up to $7,000 per employee, per quarter for businesses whose revenue has been reduced by at least 20% as compared to 2019, expired at the end of September.<\/p>\n
In early December, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced a House bill to extend the credit through Dec. 31. ASTA supports that measure but would like to see the credit extended into next year, as well.<\/p>\n
Peck acknowledged that with domestic leisure travel having rebounded, it has gotten harder for ASTA to explain to legislators that travel agencies continue to suffer from drop-offs in their bread-and-butter revenue sources of cruises, business travel and complicated international itineraries. <\/p>\n
Funding matters are also a priority for U.S. Travel this year. Barnes said the trade group is engaged in lobbying for the Hospitality & Commerce Job Recovery Act and is also working to bring back deductions for business entertainment expenses, which were eliminated at the start of 2018.<\/p>\n
In addition, U.S. Travel is pushing for $250 million in funding for Brand USA to make up for shortfalls in the fee revenue it would typically receive from incoming Visa Waiver travelers.<\/p>\n
In the international travel arena, U.S. Travel plans to push hard against country-specific entry bans, like the one invoked by the U.S. and many other countries against southern African nations due to omicron. <\/p>\n
Barnes acknowledged however, that broad global alignment on international travel requirements will likely remain elusive next year. <\/p>\n
She also predicted that the federal mask mandate for air, train and bus travel will remain in place beyond its March 18 sunset date. <\/p>\n