Travel leaders urge better COVID-19 testing to boost recovery
Any hope for the country’s travel industry lies with more COVID-19 testing, leaders of the industry said in a Monday letter to President Donald Trump and congressional leaders.
“Broader testing — in concert with other key factors such as a robust federal policy framework of relief and stimulus, rigorous health and safety standards adopted by travel-related businesses, and the universal embrace of good health practices (such as the wearing of masks) by the public — is an essential component of reopening and recovery,” said the letter, signed by 13 industry executives, including a Las Vegas resort executive.
Tourism leaders are hoping that improved testing protocols will enable more workers to get back to their jobs and be confident they are safe. The improved workplace environment should provide additional confidence in travelers that they’re not going to be infected when they’re here.
Vegas among hardest hit
Las Vegas has been one of the hardest-hit destinations for declining tourism as the number of state coronavirus cases rise. At least 123 visitors to Nevada tested positive for the coronavirus while visiting the state in recent weeks or shortly after returning home, according to state health data.
Last week, Las Vegas Sands Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein said he was as pessimistic about a rebound for the tourism-related meetings and conventions industry. Speaking during a quarterly earnings conference call with investors, Goldstein said he didn’t expect a meaningful rebound in meetings and conventions until next year. Sands was the first Las Vegas hotel-casino operator to report its earnings.
“Las Vegas, especially our company but really the whole city, is dependent on group, convention and banquet segments’ return. I see nothing that indicates that 2020 will return at all,” Goldstein said.
George Markantonis, president and chief operating officer of The Venetian and Palazzo, was one of the signatories of the letter, along with Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, and representatives from several hotel companies, including Marriott International, Hilton, Wyndham, Hyatt and InterContinental.
Half of travel jobs lost
The travel industry, the backbone of Southern Nevada’s economy with its tourism and gaming emphasis, has been among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic because casino resorts were closed for nearly three months since mid-March.
A spokeswoman for the Nevada Resort Association, which represents more than 70 properties statewide, said late Monday that the organization is reviewing the issue but is generally supportive of efforts to expand testing.
“Travel, which supported employment for one in 10 Americans before the pandemic, has already lost more than half of the 15.8 million jobs our industry supported in 2019 — more than a third of the total U.S. jobs lost to this pandemic,” the letter says. “The drop in travel-related spending is projected to cost the U.S. economy $1.2 trillion by the end of this year. In short, there can be no broader economic recovery without a recovery in travel.”
The letter said a sustained recovery will depend on a comprehensive set of measures to provide relief, protection and stimulus for U.S. employers, but says that testing should be incorporated in the next legislative package — specifically the TEST Act that has been introduced in the Senate.
The letter was sent to Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer.
The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Las Vegas Sands operates The Venetian and Palazzo.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
