The U.S. Travel Association praised the Thursday introduction of one of its major legislative priorities: a bill providing much-needed assistance to the devastated travel industry through numerous key incentive and relief measures.

The bipartisan Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act provides stimulus needed to help bring back the millions of travel jobs lost to the pandemic. Specifically, the bill provides:

 A temporary business tax credit to revitalise business meetings, conferences and other structured events.

 A temporarily restored entertainment business expense deduction to help entertainment venues and performing arts centres recover.

 An individual tax credit to stimulate non-business travel.

 Tax relief for restaurants and food and beverage companies to help restore food service jobs and strengthen the entire American food supply chain.

The travel industry is by far the U.S. industry that has been hardest-hit by the COVID pandemic, losing half a trillion dollars in travel-related spending last year—10 times the negative economic impact of 9/11. Almost four in 10 U.S. jobs lost in 2020 are in the leisure and hospitality sector.

“The evidence is abundantly clear: there will not be a U.S. economic recovery without a travel recovery, and travel cannot recover without strong and innovative policy assistance,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. “Even with the ray of hope provided by vaccines, it is unclear when travel demand will be able to rebound in earnest.

This bill contains critical provisions to assist in rebuilding this crucial but suffering American industry.”

U.S. Travel is leading a campaign to secure support for the Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act, submitting a letter to Capitol Hill signed by more than 80 major travel-related companies and organizations.

The principal sponsors of the Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act are Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Reps. Steven Horsford (D-NV), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Tom Rice (R-SC) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA).

From the need for enhanced political engagement to developing relevant expertise, the World Tourism Organization, jointly with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, have united their members in the Caribbean to address the key challenges they face in making effective use of statistics to drive the restart of their tourism sectors.

Over the course of two days, a regional virtual workshop analysed the importance of tourism data for supporting the sector in the present and helping tourism to restart in the Caribbean in a timely and sustainable manner. The workshop brought together around 130 participants from 23 States, including the leaders of National Tourism Administrations, National Statistical Offices, Central Banks and Migration authorities. 

The high-level status of participants ensures that they will in turn spread UNWTO’s technical expertise within their own countries, empowering more tourism professionals with knowledge of how best to analyse and use data to guide decisions. Through the sessions, the Caribbean tourism community got a better understanding of the fundamentals of tourism statistics. They were also given an overview of UNWTO’s Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) data, as well as guidance on how this can be used to guide decision-making. 

Welcoming UNWTO’s technical assistance, Neil Walters, Acting Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization said: “We recognize the importance of data and statistics in the development of COVID-19 recovery programs and comprehensive sustainable tourism strategies. We thank the UNWTO for supporting our efforts at capacity building in tourism statistics analysis and reporting in the Caribbean.”

The workshop also emphasized the relevance of tourism statistics, both for informing the sector’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic but also, looking ahead, for its role in guiding sustainable development across the Caribbean region. As with every other global region, the crisis has hit the Caribbean hard. 

According to the latest UNWTO data, Caribbean destinations experienced a 67% fall in international tourist arrivals in 2020 compared to the previous year. Given the reliance of many destinations on the sector, this has placed large numbers of livelihoods and businesses at risk and makes the timely restart of tourism vital.

The U.S. Travel Association on Friday announced the election of Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, as its new national chair. Duffy, who most recently served on the board as first vice chair, will lead an executive committee and board representing a diverse cross-section of travel business sectors.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Christine as national chair of U.S. Travel, not only for her deep experience operating successful travel businesses, but also for the talent and savvy she will bring to helping restore one of America’s largest industry sectors following steep losses associated with the global pandemic,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow.

“There has never been a more critical time for the travel industry to come together to effect change and drive a financial recovery. If nothing else, the past year has demonstrated the economic power of the travel sector, as well as the affinity Americans have for the social, intellectual, relaxation and joyful benefits of travel,” said Duffy. “I look forward to working with the great leaders of the travel and tourism industry to chart a path to a new level of success.”

Duffy joined Carnival Cruise Line, the flagship brand of Miami-based global cruise industry leader Carnival Corp., in 2015 after serving as president and CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). She has also served as president and CEO of Maritz Travel Company. As president of Carnival Cruise Line, Duffy oversees a company that sails a fleet of 24 ships, annually hosts nearly six million guests and employs more than 43,000 people from 110 nations around the globe. Duffy is the first woman to serve as president of Carnival Cruise Line.

Duffy sits on the corporate boards of directors of Aimbridge Hospitality, the global leader in hotel management services, and Herschend Family Entertainment, the nation’s largest family-owned operator of themed attractions, including Dollywood and Branson’s Silver Dollar City. She sits on the Professional Advisory Board of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital of which Carnival Cruise Line is the official celebration partner. Duffy is also a member of The Committee of 200, an organization of the world’s most successful women business leaders that supports, celebrates and advances women’s leadership. She was recently named by Women Leading Travel & Hospitality as one of its top women in travel and hospitality.

Duffy succeeds Destination DC President and CEO Elliott L. Ferguson, II, whose term as chair has concluded.

The U.S. Virgin Islands will welcome new flights from the New York tri-state area this summer when JetBlue Airways begins service between Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Cyril E. King Airport (STT) on St. Thomas. JetBlue announced the new flights will operate four times a week, beginning July 1, 2021.

According to the airline, the new service in operation is a result of a new Northeast Alliance with American Airlines, which will see JetBlue add more than a dozen new markets in greater New York City with new destinations offered from both LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and EWR.The routes, which include Newark to St. Thomas, help to strengthen JetBlue’s position as a dominant airline player in the New York market.

JetBlue and American Airlines recently announced the launch of the first phase of their new alliance, which is aimed at bringing customers more competitive choices in New York and Boston. The two airlines are introducing 33 new routes as part of the initial phase.

This spring, members of JetBlue’s TrueBlue and American’s AAdvantage loyalty programs will be able to enjoy reciprocal benefits, starting with the ability to earn points or miles on either carrier, enhancing the value of both programs.

“The northeast United States market is critically important to our tourism sector and our Virgin Islands communities in the Diaspora,” said Joseph Boschulte, Commissioner of Tourism for the U.S. Virgin Islands, who welcomed the new flights ahead of an expected busy summer travel season. The Commissioner affirmed demand for the U.S. Virgin Islands continues to be strong as airlines introduce new service and increase their flight frequency.

Frontier Airlines have launched new service between Orlando and St. Thomas, and will start Miami-St. Thomas flights this month. The winter season also brought new flights connecting St. Thomas with Minneapolis-St. Paul by both Sun Country Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Late last year, St. Thomas welcomed new service from New York with JetBlue Airways, which currently serves the island with nonstop flights from Boston and San Juan.

National carrier Kenya Airways has announced the resumption of its cargo services to New Delhi. The first cargo flight to resume from New Delhi has already landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, carrying pharmaceuticals, machinery and general merchandise from New Delhi.

Kenya Airways Cargo Director Dick Murianki said the weekly service will also serve to support Kenya’s intra-African export market and provide a welcome lifeline to many local businesses reliant on overseas markets. Murianki noted that KQ Cargo has rapidly scaled up its cargo services in an effort to address the growing need for air freight across the continent and will be connecting the ever-increasing number of international markets to help maintain and replenish essential supplies.

In a statement he said: “The resumption of direct weekly cargo flights from Nairobi to New Delhi, is an indication of the integral part KQ plays in providing logistics solutions to our customers based on our robust world class handling infrastructure and strong network footprint in Africa."  Key items to be uplifted from India include pharmaceutical and medical products, machinery, sports goods and general cargo.

The Cargo director added, "Cargo will continue to offer seamless connections in India to Nairobi, and the rest of Africa, including destinations such as Accra, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria; and Lilongwe, Malawi".

Leaders of several major U.S. airlines met online Friday with White House officials to press their case against requiring coronavirus tests for passengers on domestic flights, saying it would undermine the already fragile industry.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki downplayed speculation that the Biden administration could soon impose a requirement that passengers on domestic flights first pass a COVID-19 test. But she stopped short of taking the idea off the table. A person familiar with the discussions said the airline CEOs talked with White House coronavirus-response coordinator Jeff Zients, according to the person, who spoke anonymously to discuss a private meeting.

The CEOs of American, United, Southwest, Alaska and JetBlue all took part in the meeting, according to industry officials. The meeting was arranged after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a testing requirement before domestic flights was under consideration.

Since late January, the CDC has required that international travellers show a negative COVID-19 test or recovery from the virus before they board a flight to the U.S. The airline industry generally supports that rule, believing that testing could eventually replace tougher international travel restrictions, such as quarantines.

Airlines reacted with alarm, however, when CDC officials raised the possibility of testing larger numbers of passengers on domestic flights. Airlines officials say that would further devastate air travel, which has still not returned even to half its pre-pandemic level. They worry that the additional cost of a test would discourage people from taking shorter trips.

The airlines also argue that there isn’t enough testing capacity to test every passenger. More than 1 million people went through checkpoints at U.S. airports in one recent day, according to figures from the Transportation Security Administration. They also say that requiring people to take a coronavirus test before flights would cause more people to drive — merely shifting the risk of spreading the virus from planes to cars.

Airline unions have joined the push against testing domestic passengers. The Southwest Airlines pilots’ union said a testing mandate “would decimate domestic air travel demand, put aviation jobs at risk, and create serious unintended consequences.”