The U.S. Travel Association (USTA) released its analysis of the Labor Department employment report, which showed a decrease in travel industry employment in May. The numbers dropped by 3,000, the first monthly decline in six months. However, the analysis also shows an overall increase of 107,200 travel industry jobs, accounting for 12.3 percent of all U.S. jobs added in that timeframe.
“With the domestic economy appearing to decelerate in the second quarter, reliance on exports will play an even more critical role in keeping the recovery ongoing and creating job opportunities for Americans,” said David Huether, senior vice president of economics and research for the USTA. “Last year, foreign travel in the U.S. supported 931,000 jobs directly in the U.S. travel industry and another 856,000 jobs in other industries. And through the first quarter of this year, travel exports were up 8.7 percent from 2010, a good sign that this key job creator is continuing to grow.”
The USTA estimates, therefore, that an increase in tourism to the U.S. will create more domestic job opportunities. However, because the country faces tough competition from other global markets, the USTA put forth a plan to create 1.3 million jobs by making the U.S. a stronger competitor in global travel. (
www.ustravel.org)
