A day after President Biden signed the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act into law — a significant milestone toward getting the U.S. cruise industry back up and running — Drew Daly, senior vice president and general manager of CruiseOne, Dream Vacations and Cruises, Inc., found himself before a Senate subcommittee (virtually, that is).
Daly is the first travel advisor to testify before the Senate’s Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion (under the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation), which was created in April to help lawmakers further examine the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created for the tourism industry.
The May 25 hearing, which is the third since the subcommittee’s formation, focused on the hospitality workforce and small businesses, including travel agencies.
“Travel agents do in fact exist, and over the years, we have evolved into travel advisors,” according to Daly’s testimony. “Travel advisors play a critical role in working with clients to plan travel for business and leisure purposes, delivering exceptional customer service. [They] earn a living based on what they sell to their customers and get paid on the actual departure.”
Providing temporary targeted relief that encourages Americans to travel could boost demand, allow travel providers to hire back workers, and speed up the recovery of our sector.
Because of this business model, many agents have been struggling to put food on the table, Daly told the committee. His longer written testimony included personal anecdotes of adversity from his colleagues at CruiseOne, Dream Vacations and Cruises, Inc., including a story about a top-producing franchisee in Florida who had to return to work as a school nurse to earn an income, and others who paused travel planning for jobs at grocery stores or driving for Uber in order to be able to provide for their families.
Although Daly is the first travel advisor to appear before the subcommittee as a witness, the subcommittee has previously discussed the state of the U.S. cruise industry, which impacts jobs in a number of U.S. states, and has been largely on pause since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seventy-eight percent of all cruises are booked by a travel advisor, and cruising represents about three-fourths of the business at CruiseOne, Dream Vacations and Cruises, Inc., landing the company at a crossroad between two struggling sectors of travel.
“Today, more than 70% of our cruise bookings are for 2022 departures,” Daly’s testimony continued.
“Despite industry-leading protocols and proven sailings in other regions of the world, it has been almost 16 months since cruise ships departed from U.S. ports," he said. "Cruise is the only travel and tourism sector in the United States still shut down, although discussions with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention toward the restart of cruises from U.S. ports remain underway.”
Drew Daly, senior vice president and general manager of CruiseOne, Dream Vacations and Cruises, Inc.
Credit: 2021 CruiseOne, Dream Vacations and Cruises, Inc.Several other industry stakeholders joined Daly in providing testimony during the hearing, including Bill Lupfer, president and CEO of the Florida Attractions Association; Shaundell Newsome, chair, Urban Chamber of Commerce Las Vegas; and D. Taylor, president of the Unite Here labor union. Like Daly, the other witnesses shared the challenges and hurdles facing their respective workforces, which span the tourism industry and include careers in theme parks, hospitality, restaurant/catering, gaming and more.
Witnesses also asked Congress to step in and provide additional targeted relief to aid in the pandemic's uneven recovery.
“The economic impact has been unequal across sectors and regions in our country,” Daly’s testimony continued.
“Many Americans that would welcome the opportunity to travel simply may be unable to because of the financial hit they have suffered over the last year," he said. "Providing temporary targeted relief that encourages Americans to travel could boost demand, allow travel providers to hire back workers, and speed up the recovery of our sector.”
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CruiseOne, Dream Vacations and Cruises, Inc.
