WASHINGTON, DC – About a week before the election, the CEO of Booking Holdings, which oversees Booking and several other sites such as Priceline.com, OpenTable, and Kayak, floated an idea for “tax credits or incentives to get people traveling.”
In the article at Yahoo Finance, CEO Glenn Fogel also points out, “We’re doing that right now in Japan, for example, where the government in Japan is providing money to help stimulate travel. Thailand, same thing, and in other parts of the world.” HX: The News asked a few industry observers if the idea had merit.
“Once we’ve got the virus in check and a widely-distributed vaccine in use, this would be a great idea.”
— Kevin Kochman, president, Kochman Consultants, Ltd. (KCL), Morton Grove, Illinois
“Giving Americans a tax break to spur travel is a worthy idea. The travel market is intertwined with countless market segments in the U.S. economy, and increasing travel will positively impact hotels, airlines, restaurants, and many businesses that support these industries. Another reason that a travel tax break makes good economic sense is that most Americans can afford to travel to some extent. That creates a substantial ripple effect throughout the economy, which will pay for the tax cut.”
— Michael Stephenson, president of Los Angeles-based Wellness Hospitality Association International (WHAI)
“Gaining control of the current pandemic is fundamental to any sort of sustained recovery. While we have seen some ’soft recovery’ in leisure/drive markets, sustained recovery cannot emerge until corporate, group and government travel is stimulated, and stimulated in a very meaningful way. If passed, the Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act, when combined with another round of PPP is a solid foundation. Absent these elements, we will continue to see the industry decimated.” — Joel Carver, CEO, The Carver Companies
“A tax break for travelers is not necessary. Travel is suppressed today by COVID19, not by economics. When the virus has been contained and business restrictions are lifted, travel will rebound. In fact, we expect a strong rebound effect beginning in the second half of 2021. Latent demand for travel for all reasons—corporate, meetings, and leisure trips—is building up and will support a strong, sustained recovery. The challenge is to maintain the health of the industry until that recovery begins. Travel suppliers, especially hotels, are mostly small business operators and owners whose cash reserves are depleted. Hotel owners need financial support from the government to maintain operations, and employer incentives will help to retain the experienced workers needed to ensure that travel suppliers are able to serve the demand for travel when it begins to return.” — Del Ross, chief revenue officer, Hotel Effectiveness, Alpharetta, Georgia
“I love the idea of some kind of tax credit for future travel. As a meeting planner, we will need all the help we can get to give people the incentive to join our events in the near future. The only concern I have is that the hospitality industry can be a trickle down economy. Sales tax (hotel, restaurant, museums, etc) fund local convention and visitor bureaus that help attract meetings and conventions to their local economy so it would need to be very carefully examined to make sure we don’t hurt one part of the industry by helping another part of the industry. I think the public is desperate to get back to travel within the USA so any type of incentive that is properly examined would be great.” — Wade Koehler, executive director, Foodservice Consultants Society International’s (FCSI) Americas Division, Springfield, Illinois