Grants offered to small businesses in Pennsylvania, including travel industry
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Industry experts predict U.S. travel this summer will experience a 15% dip compared to last year.
This news comes as support grows for additional federal stimulus assistance to help the travel industry, one of the economic sectors hardest hit during the covid-19 pandemic, according to a national survey.
Regionally, officials at The Progress Fund, based in Greensburg, noted hospitality providers are among pandemic-affected small businesses that can apply for state grants through a covid-19 relief program rolling out Tuesday.
The will be a window of 10 business days to apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 in the first of four rounds of the Covid-19 Relief Pennsylvania Statewide Small Business Assistance Program. The program, which draws upon federal stimulus funding, is expected to distribute $200 million among qualifying businesses before the end of the year.
According to Progress Fund President David Kahley, the intention is to spread grants throughout the state to help businesses such as restaurants, hair salons and hospitality providers cover expenses incurred because of the pandemic’s impact. Applications will be evaluated according to merit and need and not on a first-come, first-served basis, he said.
The Progress Fund lobbied to have tourism-related businesses included, Kahley said.
“We’ve been pushing the development of the local tourism economy for 22 years,” he said. “We think tourism helps a lot of small communities. It helps them rebuild.”
Other Western Pennsylvania organizations assisting with the grant application process are Pittsburgh’s Northside Community Development Fund and Bridgeway Capital, which has offices in Erie, Pittsburgh and Uniontown.
According to AAA, Americans are expected to take 707 million trips between July 1 and Sept. 30, compared to 857 million trips during the same period in 2019. That’s the first decline in summer travel since 2009.
Most of those excursions — 683 million — likely will be via automobile, down 3% from last year’s 706 million.
Air travel is expected to be down 74% this summer while trips on trains, cruise ships and buses are predicted to plummet by 86%.
A mid-June survey of 2,200 adults commissioned by the American Hotel and Lodging Association found that only 18% had taken overnight trips since March and a majority weren’t planning to travel for the rest of the year.
According to the association, hotels supported one in 25 American jobs prior to the pandemic, generating $40 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2018. That revenue is expected to drop by $16.8 billion in 2020, according to a report by Oxford Economics. Pennsylvania is predicted to lose $542 million.
The survey found 61% of respondents support a proposed temporary federal travel tax credit to encourage people to travel, and 57% support restoring a business entertainment expense deduction to encourage business travel.