On behalf of the Travel Business Roundtable ("TBR"), I am writing to alert you to the crisis now confronting the U.S. travel and tourism industry and to outline several concrete steps that the Administration and Congress can take to help the industry recover from the crushing blow it received as a result of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country.
    
Comprised of more than 60 corporate, labor, and trade association members, the TBR is proud to represent the broad diversity of the U.S. travel and tourism industry. During the past decade, travel and tourism has emerged as one of our nation's most productive engines of economic growth. As of last January, more than 17 million Americans were employed in travel and tourism-related jobs, with an annual payroll of $159 billion. Travel and tourism was the first, second, or third largest industry in 28 states and the District of Columbia. And last year, travel and tourism generated an annual trade surplus of $17 billion as well as nearly $100 billion in tax revenues for Federal, state, and local governments.
    
Unfortunately, the September 11th attacks have crippled our industry as public confidence in the safety of travel has been severely undermined, if not shattered. Hard data as well as anecdotal experience suggest that meetings are being postponed; all but critical corporate travel is being delayed; and individuals are canceling or postponing personal travel plans within the U.S. and abroad. These disturbing trends are all occurring against the backdrop of an overall U.S. economy that is in decline.
    
Let me be even more specific: Since September 11, hundreds of thousands of travel and tourism jobs have been lost across the country; major U.S. cities are already reporting tens of millions of dollars in tourism-related losses; airlines, having drastically reduced their flight schedules are filling less than 60 percent of their seats on most flights; hotels stand to lose more than $2 billion
in room revenue; more than 25% of meetings and conventions scheduled to take place by the end of the year have been canceled; and travel agencies are reporting tens of millions of dollars in sales losses each day.
    
To stop and reverse these alarming trends, we need your help and we need it now.
    
As an immediate step, we urge you to speak out in as many forums as possible about the continued safety of travel and its importance to the U.S. economy. The message to the American people must be clear--to change our way of life is a capitulation to the terrorists. We applaud President Bush's recent public comments about the importance of travel as well as his decision to reopen Reagan National Airport.
    
We also understand that Congress and the Administration are developing a package of tax relief and other initiatives designed to stimulate economic growth. As you review the range of options available to you, we hope you will consider the following proposals that will be particularly helpful to the U.S. travel and tourism industry in the near term as the industry tries to get back on its collective feet. These proposals are designed to achieve three goals: 1) to assist the hundreds of thousands of workers within the travel and tourism industry who have been displaced since September 11th; 2) to encourage people to travel again for both business and leisure purposes; and 3) to increase liquidity for travel and tourism-related businesses, both large and small, that are currently confronting severe cash flow problems. Accordingly, we propose:

Helping Displaced Workers

• Direct assistance by the Federal government to those states that may be overwhelmed with worker compensation and unemployment claims resulting from the September 11th attacks.
• Assurance by the Federal government that health benefits will be continued for displaced workers.

• Full restoration of the business meal and entertainment deduction.
• Restoration of the tax deduction for travel expenses of a spouse accompanying an employee on a business trip to 100%.

• Payroll tax relief for employers and employees.
• Extension of eligibility for the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Relief Program to otherwise qualified small businesses across the country that are unable to meet necessary financial obligations as a result of the September 11th attacks.
• Granting discretionary authority to the SBA Administrator to adjust size standards for eligibility to ensure that firms falling outside the SBA's definition of "small" are not inadvertently left behind.

As more governors and mayors speak out about the damaging consequences of September 11th for state and local governments, both in terms of lost revenues and spiraling unemployment claims, one salient truth emerges: Travel and tourism is a nationwide industry whose enormous economic presence in all 435 Congressional Districts must not be ignored.
    
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts with you. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me directly or call Chuck Merin, TBR's Washington representative, at 202/530-4829. For your review, I have also attached TBR's membership list and a snapshot summary of the devastating impact that September 11th has had on our industry.
    
Those of us at the TBR wish you every success as you undertake your important responsibilities during these difficult times. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Sincerely,
Jonathan M. Tisch
Chairman