Benefits May 7, 2002

Travel and Tourism Still Smarting

May 7, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - While the September 11 attacks may have left the travel industry reeling, there were few permanent changes in business travel policies because of it, a new survey finds.
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In fact, the industry is expected to suffer the largest amount of permanent job loss. Some 300,000 jobs have been eliminated in the sector, representing a quarter of the total 1.2 million jobs cut announced since the attacks.

Results from the Challenger survey show that:

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  • the airline industry may experience permanent job loss due to falling demand for air travel, particularly for flights of fewer than 200 miles
  • nearly two-thirds of the travel and tourism-related job cuts announced from September 11 through March 31 were among the airlines and airplane manufacturers. The two combined account for nearly 62% of job cuts in the travel and tourism sector
  • travel-related industries and tech-sector firms accounted for more than 600,000 jobs eliminated, or 51% of  job cuts announced since the attacks
  • direct and indirect tourism sales fell from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $749 billion in the second quarter of 2001 to $705 billion in the third quarter
  • The travel industry is 14% below last year’s level and is expected to struggle until 2003

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