HURRICANE KATRINA RECOVERY INFORMATION

STATEMENT BY JONATHAN M. TISCH
CHAIRMAN, TRAVEL BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE
SEPTEMBER 8, 2005

The tragedy of the Gulf Coast is unparalleled in our nation’s history. The loss of life, the threat of disease, the destruction of property and the prolonged disruption to everyday life for the residents and businesses of the affected communities is simply staggering.

It should come as no surprise that the travel and tourism industry accounts for approximately 260,000 jobs, a payroll income of over $3.7 billion, and $18.3 billion in travel sales for the affected areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The travel and tourism industry – our employees, employers and owners – have borne the brunt of the devastation in the Gulf Coast Region. But the travel and tourism industry will come back, and as an industry we will help the devastated areas rebuild.

The TBR and TIA team has been working around the clock on two important initiatives – putting together a relief package to send to Congress and the Administration and the upcoming launch of an extraordinary resource, the on-line job bank www.katrinajobs.org.

Legislative Relief

Congress reconvened late last week for an emergency session and passed a $10.5 billion emergency relief package to help fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) responders. This emergency funding was considered to be a “down payment” since the full impact of the hurricane, and the extent of reconstruction needed, won’t be known for quite some time to come. The second “down payment” of the relief effort will come in the form of a $51.8 billion supplemental aid request sent to Congress yesterday by the White House; $50 billion for FEMA, $1.4 billion for the DoD and $400 million for the Army Corps of Engineers. This funding is expected to pass Congress later today or tomorrow. It is important to note that this second wave of emergency funding is focused on immediate needs. A more comprehensive relief package will eventually be sent to Congress for funding once the full extent of the disaster has been assessed. Congress is expected to not only appropriate additional money in the future, but is considering targeted tax and regulatory relief as well as specific assistance measures for displaced workers and their families.

We have made immediate and long-term employee, employer and owner relief a top priority for our lobbying efforts. Our Washington team is working with other industry groups and member organizations to put together a very targeted package – both in scope and in terms of the geographic areas included – that will provide our industry with immediate relief and reconstruction assistance.

Three TBR-member organizations – the National Restaurant Association, the International Franchise Association (IFA), and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) – will be holding their previously scheduled legislative conferences in Washington, DC next week. Among the three associations, well in excess of 1,000 industry representatives will be in meetings with Members of Congress. Many thanks to Steve Anderson from the Restaurant Association, Matt Shay from IFA and Fred Schwartz from AAHOA for offering to put aside more parochial legislative issues and focusing those meetings on Hurricane Katrina relief. This is an example of grassroots lobbying at it best, and we are most grateful to the many Restaurant Association, IFA and AAHOA members who will be carrying our messages to Congress next week.

Industry Relief Initiative

The social and economic consequences of this disaster on our industry’s employees, employers and owners are, as yet, unknown. But the enormous outpouring of assistance from our industry has been extraordinary and heartening. There are many, many examples of what our member companies and associations are doing for the affected areas and displaced people – from financial contributions to relief organizations, to maintaining employee payrolls, to massive in-kind donations, to rescue and relocation operations.

On behalf of the aggregate travel and tourism industry, we at TIA and TBR, in conjunction with the Travel & Tourism Coalition, are launching an industry wide effort, the on-line job bank www.katrinajobs.org.

Katrinajobs.org will launch on September 15th, and it will be able to take information from job-seekers and listings from not only our members and other travel-related companies, but from all businesses across American industry. The goal is to help provide work as quickly as possible for those who have been displaced. We are challenging companies to immediately populate the site with available jobs. There will be no fee for posting positions.

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