In a Dec. 10 letter to Congress, the U.S. Travel Association urged lawmakers to pass immediate disaster-relief legislation for states where recent hurricanes have decimated the travel industry.
The letter had 100-plus signatures, mostly from convention and visitors bureaus, tourism-development organizations and chambers of commerce in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia, states where tourism businesses were devastated by hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association and Hawaii Tourism Authority also signed the document; wildfires devastated parts of Maui in 2023.
U.S. Travel wrote that relief funds “can be used for activities that are vital to restoring travel, including grants to businesses, rebuilding travel infrastructure and destination marketing, which helps inform potential visitors about areas that remain open for business and draws visitors back when appropriate to impacted areas. Without these visitors, small travel businesses struggle to meet payroll and basic operating expenses, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of families and employees.”
To illustrate the depth of need, the letter says that since the end of September, North Carolina’s mountain region — home to 47,000 travel industry workers — stands to lose $2.1 billion in visitor spending this fall alone.
The U.S. Travel Association sent a similar letter to Congress on Nov. 1.
“Too many destinations in too many states are currently waiting on Congress to provide desperately needed relief from disasters that took place months ago,” said U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman. “The holiday season is peak travel season and Main Street businesses are suffering. The time for Congress to act is now.”
Freeman this week is speaking at the National Council of State Tourism Directors Leadership Forum in Asheville, N.C., where tourism directors from 19 states are discussing the importance of rushing federal aid to communities to assist in rebuilding infrastructure.
