The US Travel Association, whose members include Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, and over 1,000 other travel-related businesses, is asking the federal government for billions of dollars in financial relief to help stabilize the industry.
As noted in a letter to the federal government, the travel industry has been hit especially hard as a result of travel restrictions and social distancing policies put in place to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
A recent study put out by Oxford estimates the loss of 5.9 million jobs by the end of April and $400 billion in revenue losses resulting from lost travel spending. In 2019, travel to and within the United States generated $2.6 trillion in economic output, which is more than 2% of the nations GDP. One-in-ten jobs in the U.S. depend on travel and tourism, even more than that in the Central Florida area.
While Disney is a member of the US Travel Association, they have not specifically asked the federal government for money. Disney has been involved in meetings with President Trump.
Disney has had all of their theme parks closed since March 16th and they will remain closed indefinitely. Disney will be furloughing many of its employees beginning April 19th and isn’t accepting new reservations until June 1st.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com for the latest Disney Parks news and photos. We’ll continue to bring you news and photos, where possible, through the Disney Parks closure due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) and will resume our normal coverage once the parks reopen to guests on July 11th!
Please don’t call him the P-word. It doesn’t sound right.