Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Travel Association, along with almost 500 travel industry organizations and companies, including the American Hotel & Lodging Association, sent a letter to congressional leaders on Monday urging immediate action to reopen the government before the Thanksgiving travel rush, according to a press release.
- The letter underscores a Tuesday press conference in which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned of “mass chaos” and “mass flight delays” if the shutdown continues into next week. “You'll see mass cancelations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don't have the air traffic controllers,” Duffy said.
- According to the U.S. Travel Association’s letter, “more than 20 million passengers took to the skies during Thanksgiving week” in 2024, which drove billions of dollars in spending. It stressed the critical role Thanksgiving travel plays in the U.S. economy, and said it’s one of the busiest and most economically significant travel periods of the year.
Dive Insight:
Air traffic controllers and TSA officers have been among the thousands of federal employees affected by the shutdown, and have been working without pay since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, causing travel delays and cancellations.
“Air travel’s number one priority is safety and while safety will be maintained, travelers will pay a heavy and completely unnecessary price in terms of delays, cancelations and lost confidence in the air travel experience,” U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman said in the release.
The U.S. Travel Association’s letter follows a similar letter sent late last month to government officials and signed by more than 30 hospitality industry associations. That letter urged congressional leaders to reopen the government and said the shutdown resulted in an estimated $650 million in lost hotel business as it entered its fourth week. AHLA also said that each day of the shutdown was costing the economy $31 million “in activity that would’ve been generated by hotel stays.”
The shutdown has compounded an already challenging period for the U.S. hotel industry, which saw RevPAR drop 5.3% year over year on falling ADR and occupancy the week ending Oct. 25. The top 25 markets nationwide were down 8.1% year over year for the period, according to a report from hospitality data analytics firm STR.
STR’s report said that 49% of U.S. hotels had seen RevPAR declines of 5% or more year over year for the week ended Oct. 25, with almost a quarter seeing a decrease of more than 20%. In Washington, D.C., RevPAR declined 23.8%, making the city “among the worst of the key markets, which is likely due to the ongoing government shutdown and to conference shifts.”
In Monday’s letter, Freeman said that the damage from the shutdown has already caused 60% of Americans to reconsider their travel plans.
“Congress needs to do its job,” Freeman said. “The fastest way to restore confidence and restart travel is to reopen the government by passing a clean continuing resolution.
