Travel Industry Urges Congress to End Government Shutdown Before Thanksgiving Week

More than 500 travel organizations and companies signed a letter calling on Congressional leaders of both parties to pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the federal government in time for services to be restored before Thanksgiving.

Sent on the letterhead of the U.S. Travel Association, dated Monday (Nov. 3) and shared with PYMNTS, the letter said America’s travel economy has already lost over $4 billion due to the shutdown and that the busiest travel period of the year, Thanksgiving, is nearing.

Over 20 million passengers took flights in the United States during last year’s Thanksgiving week, according to the letter.

“Travel spending during the holiday generates billions of dollars in economic activity, supporting jobs, local tax bases, and small businesses nationwide,” the letter said. “A continued shutdown is likely to significantly suppress travel demand and spending, creating a real threat to American workers, businesses and the overall economy.”

The shutdown pressures Transportation Security Administration officers and air traffic controllers who are forced to work without pay, and it threatens to derail families’ travel plans due to staffing shortages and the flight delays and cancellations that follow, per the letter.

“The American people expect and deserve a fully functioning federal government during the peak holiday travel season,” the letter said. “Congress must act without delay to pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government immediately and ensure full federal operations are restored in advance of the Thanksgiving travel period.”

The U.S. Travel Association said on Oct. 8 that America’s travel economy suffered $1 billion in lost spending during the first week of the government shutdown and could lose $1 billion a week as the shutdown continued.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in an article posted Thursday (Oct. 30) that the government shutdown is putting at risk $3 billion a week that would have been earned by 65,500 small business contractors. Since the beginning of the shutdown on Oct. 1, these contractors already had $12 billion at risk in the month of October, the Chamber said.

It was reported Monday that Goldman Sachs anticipates that the government shutdown is most likely to end around the second week of November because increasing operational and political pressures could push lawmakers to strike a compromise.