Relevant Reports for Seattle Southside Partners

Reports and information from U.S. Travel Association.

Industry Messaging and Information

The U.S. Travel Association encourages travelers and the U.S. travel industry to monitor and follow the guidance offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (links and industry updates on the U.S. Travel Association website)
Travel Industry Talking Points (U.S. Travel Association)

Travel spending continued its slide last week, and shrank by an additional 1%
- In the week ending December 12, travel spending tallied just $10.8 billion—marking a new low since the week ending June 20—and reflected a 48% drop below last year's levels (a $10.2 billion loss)
- The number of states and territories recording losses greater than 50% year-over-year (y/y) rose from 12 to 14, as travel spending contracted in both California and Connecticut
  - California’s travel economy deteriorated from -39% y/y at the end of November to -54% y/y last week due to rising COVID-19 cases and the re-implementation of lockdown measures
- Since the beginning of March, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over $500 billion in cumulative losses for the U.S. travel economy, equating to a daily loss of approximately $1.75 billion for the past nine-and-a-half months
- The continual depressed level of travel spending has caused a loss of $64.4 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue since March 1

Road travel was 19% lower than the same period last year—putting this week in the top three worst performances within the past four months

You can also view Arrivalist’s Daily Travel Index here

Source: Arrivalist

TSA screenings continue to decline
- After improving nearly every week since May—from lows of -96% (y/y) in April to -61% y/y around Thanksgiving—TSA screenings regressed over the past two weeks
- The seven-day average of people screened last week (through Sunday, December 13) was just 691,000, 10% lower than the previous week
- On a y/y basis, TSA screenings fell back to -68%, worse than any week since the end of September

Source: TSA

Three out of four respondents expect employees to attend in-person meetings/events in Q2 or Q3 2021
Sales meetings with customers and prospects will be the priority for the year ahead
Three in five members of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) say vaccine availability is a ‘significant’ factor in their company’s decision to resume business travel
Despite the vaccine being rolled out in the U.S. over the past few weeks, 54% of GBTA member companies remain unsure about their position concerning vaccine availability and the resumption of business travel
However, one in five say their employees will be permitted to travel for work when a significant portion of the population have been vaccinated
Just over one-third (36%) of North American respondents say their company has begun planning 2021 meetings and/or events
Of those who report their company is planning to host/attend 2021 meetings and/or events, more than half are planning small to mid-sized meetings or events with up to 500 attendees
As attendance at in-person events increase through the year, hybrid meeting attendance is expected to decline as 2021 unfolds

Source: Global Business Travel Association

While nearly 85 million Americans plan to travel from December 23 through January 3, that is 34 million fewer travelers than 2019, a decline of at least 29%
- Of those traveling, more than nine in 10 will travel by car, a decline of at least 25% compared to last year
- Auto travel will likely replace some trips previously taken by air, bus or train
Holiday travelers are continuing to take a wait-and-see approach to their travel decisions which will likely result in last minute cancellations

Source: AAA