Source: Forbes
By Kenneth Rapoza
June 25, 2020
A majority of Americans want more economic stimulus, especially for the travel industry, one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
A survey by Morning Consult for the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), released on Thursday, showed that 70% of respondents think Congress should help the travel industry recover, including providing incentives to get Americans to travel again.
Right now, almost no one is traveling. It’s not necessarily because of money. It’s due to lockdowns, quarantine orders, and concerns over catching the virus.
Plus, popular summer tourist attractions remain closed. Disney World Orlando is closed, impacting hotels in Orlando and Kissimmee.
Broadway is closed, erasing one of the only reasons to go to New York City in the summertime. This week, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut governors announced that they would require people to quarantine for two weeks if coming from a state where the coronavirus is on the march. That all but eliminates southern state travel to the Tri-State Area for the foreseeable future.
To highlight just how much people are not interested in traveling, just 18% of respondents said they had booked a hotel since March.
The devastation caused to the hotel industry is already 9 times worse than 9/11, with more than 8 in 10 hotels having to lay off or furlough workers during the pandemic, according to AHLA.
