U.S. Travel Industry Reports $2.2 Billion Shutdown Loss

Above, a natural arch at Bryce Canyon National Park.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The government shutdown (i.e., slowdown, as the federal government was functioning at 83%) caused some losses to the U.S. travel industry, according to an article at Travel Pulse.com.

They wrote:

The U.S. Travel Association is praising the White House and Congress for passing bipartisan legislation at the last minute to end the federal government shutdown and raise the debut ceiling limit. At the same time it pointed out that, with an estimated loss of $152 million a day in travel-related spending, the total cost to the travel industry of that shutdown, which began Oct. 1, was $2.2 billion. 

Ironically, the final moves in Congress to end the shutdown came on Oct. 16, even as travel industry executives were testifying before a congressional subcommittee about the losses the industry had incurred, particularly for tour operators and hotels associated with travel to America’s national parks.

Currently, Congress is looking into whether the closure of national parks and monuments were actually necessary or if the closures were done to make the shutdown worse for political advantage.

To read the full article, go here.