The head of the US Travel Association has called for “everyone to be wearing masks” as Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the US.
Roger Dow, president and chief executive of the US Travel Association, issued the call amid increasingly polarised views on mask wearing in the country.
Dow said: “Masks and other good health practices are absolutely critical to dissipating the health crisis and making an economic rebound possible.
“The country’s collective record on this needs to improve, or the pain will only go on longer. Everyone needs to be wearing masks in public.”
US public opinion, and the stance of state and federal government figures, is sharply divided on face masks despite the rising numbers of infections and deaths in the country.
The Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, barred the mayor of Atlanta from making mask wearing compulsory on Friday.
Centre for Aviation (CAPA) senior analyst for the Americas Lori Ranson warned last month that inconsistency over Covid measures in the US would make a travel rebound “very tough”.
She said: “There are different attitudes to social distancing and wearing masks [in the US]. How do you enforce wearing a mask if there is a difference of opinion?”
Dow spoke out while appealing for fresh federal aid for “the devastated US travel industry” on Friday and submitting a series of industry requests to Congress.
He warned that “without broad and comprehensive federal assistance, the travel sector will remain in depression long after a recovery begins”.
In a statement, the association noted latest polls show the rise in Covid-19 infections in the country “has hurt Americans’ views on travelling” and warned the re-imposition of restrictions in several US states “are certain to delay a rebound in travel”.
A Destination Analysts survey found the proportion of US respondents likely to travel this autumn had fallen from 50% in early June to 36%.
A separate Harris Poll found only 37% of US respondents feel safe flying and 77% support 14-day quarantines for out-of-state travellers from areas with a high rate of Covid-19.
The same poll found 58% of US leisure travellers aim to substitute staycations for vacations for the remainder of the year, and 74% of business travellers expect to substitute virtual meetings for business meetings requiring flying.
The association pointed out eight million travel and tourism jobs, more than half the employment in the sector, have been lost.
Dow said: “You name it, this industry and its workers need it. There is no telling how many of the eight million jobs we’ve lost so far will remain gone for good without aggressive federal intervention. The problem is massive and growing right before our eyes.”
The association has called for the extension of the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) until the end of the year and its expansion to destination marketing organisations.
It is also seeking $10 billion in federal grants to promote safe travel practices, temporary liability protections for travel businesses to reopen, support for airports and temporary tax credits and deductions to encourage Americans to travel and to restore business meetings and events.