Travel spending by Americans plummeted 42 percent in 2020, trade group says

INDUSTRYSpending on travel plummeted in 2020Travel spending by Americans plunged by 42 percent, or $492 billion, in 2020, according to a report by an industry group, amid social, travel and business restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of covid-19.The U.S. Travel Association said the industry shed 5.6 million direct and indirect jobs last year, and the decline in travel dragged down total economic output to $1.5 trillion, from 2019’s $2.6 trillion. U.S. tax revenue collected from travel dropped by $57 billion in 2020.Last year, U.S. passenger airline traffic sank 60.1 percent to the lowest since 1984, while Americans took far fewer road trips as millions stayed home instead of commuting.In total, there were 368 million air passengers in 2020, down from 922.6 million in 2019. U.S. driving fell by 430.2 billion miles, or 13 percent, to 2.83 trillion total miles in 2020, its lowest level since 2001.— ReutersSOCIAL MEDIAFacebook announces new rules on groupsFacebook has announced new rules to better police private and public groups, including harsher punishments for users and group administrators who repeatedly violate the company’s guidelines.Facebook users who break the rules within a group will be temporarily blocked from posting or commenting on any group and will also be stopped from…
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