Travel Careers and Travel Alerts

I received the below questions from Brenda.  I’m sharing my response since you too may have the same questions.  You are welcome to share it with others that may also have a concern about the recent travel alerts.  Hope it helps.

Hello Cherie,

Any information on potential outcomes we may face in our industry relative to the US reports on worldwide terrorism threats on travel.  Are the main travel associations planning to get together to hold meetings to discuss it?

Thanks so much.

Brenda Singleton

Hi Brenda,

I can only guess what may happen by what I've experienced in the past. I've been through travel warnings, countries with government unrest, recessions, 911 and more.  I’ve watched travel policy changes, tour industry changes, travel insurance changes, travel bonds and of course the establishment of the TSA.

When there are threats we sometimes have a dip in tourism and then the associations, local communities, states and politicians get involved when jobs are hurt.  Tourism hires one in eight people worldwide.  It’s over a $84 billion industry in California.  It’s extremely important to the US economy and jobs but it sometimes takes educating the politicians and public of its importance when it is challenged.

For example, remember after 911 when the Broadway actors were in ads promoting NYC?  The states and counties had meetings on how to bring back tourists. I still remember Sharon Stone and Arnold Schwarzeneger volunteering to shake the hands of visitors to LA.   Of course this was after 911 and hopefully we won't have anything like that ever again.

Now that we have travel alerts, especially to Europe and the Middle East, travelers may decide to hold off on European tours and travel domestically and or will travel west towards the South Pacific and Asia and or to South America.

Before 911 we had tour operators offering either international travel or domestic travel.  After 911, when more US residents decided to travel domestically, tour operators started offering tours to both markets.  More domestic tours were offered for US residents.   We may see a boost in US travel for leisure and meetings and incentives.

In recent years to help tourism, visa requirements have been made easier to attract US visitors, particularly from Eastern Europe and Brazil. President Obama made a speech at Disneyworld announcing the changes in 2013.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZuGcOT0kg

The easy, non-visa requirements for US travel, particularly from the European market, is now being questioned.  If you watched the Syrian hearing last week, it was discussed as a major concern for US security.  If additional regulations are enforced our inbound domestic tourism may take a 'hit' for a while. We may have fewer visitors, some just not wanting to go through more procedures.

Tourism has been through challenges over the years, as have many industries, during economic and safety concerns.  Our industry has always come back quickly and stronger than before the challenge.

I pray we'll all stay safe and tourism continues to thrive.

Glad you asked and hope this helps.

Cherie

US travel & tourism employs near 6 times more people than the automotive sector

US travel & tourism employs near 6 times more people than the automotive sector

Published on : Tuesday, July 21, 2015

United States’ Travel & Tourism sector directly generates nearly six times more jobs than automotive manufacturing, according to a new research report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

Launched at the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) Annual Convention in Austin, Texas, the Benchmarking Report 2015 compares Travel & Tourism to eight sectors in the United States, which are considered having similar breadth and presence.

In the US, Travel & Tourism directly sustained 5.3 million jobs in 2014, which is almost six times the size of automotive manufacturing (907,000); and bigger than banking (2.7 million), mining (960,000) and automotive manufacturing combined.

In total, when measuring the direct, indirect, and induced impact, the Travel & Tourism sector supported 13.7 million jobs or 9.3% of total employment in the US in 2014.

Out of the eight researched sectors, Travel & Tourism is the second biggest job generator in the US, supporting 18 jobs for every US$1 million spent – larger than the economy average of 16 jobs per $1 million in spending.

Travel & Tourism produced 8% of the US’ GDP in 2014, generating a total impact of $US1.4 trillion, which is more than each of education, agriculture and automotive manufacturing contributed.

The sector’s contribution to GDP is estimated to grow at an annual average of 4.4% over the next ten years and will outpace the total economy, which is forecast to increase by 2.3% per annum over the next decade.

David Scowsill, President & CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), said:

“This report confirms the importance of Travel & Tourism to the US economy, generating over 9.3% of the country’s employment and 8% of its GDP. It is of great importance that the US keeps on investing in infrastructure and human capital to sustain the demand for expansion and talent in the Travel & Tourism sector and continues its great efforts on visa facilitation. I am extremely pleased that our annual Global Summit 2016 will take place in Dallas, where we will continue to discuss the challenges and celebrate the importance of our sector in the US and beyond.”