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Research Outline

Prepared for Alex S. | Delivered April 27, 2020

US Travel and Tourism Industry

Goals

To highlight the impact of 9/11 and the Great Recession (2007-2009) on the travel and tourism industry, including the volume of travelers, economic impact, etc.

Early Findings

  • Just before the 9/11 terrorist attack, the US air travel industry was at a "record high with 65.4 million passengers." However, this figure plummeted after the attack and did not rise until 4 years later in July 2005, by about 9.7%.
  • The 9/11 attack not only led to many airlines filing for bankruptcy, many air routes and destinations were also discontinued.
  • Considering that "commercial airliners were the weapons used by the terrorists" in the 9/11 attack, the U.S. government "grounded the commercial fleet for three days." This resulted in a "31.6% reduction in travel volume in September 2001 compared to that same month in 2000 and generated massive industry losses."
  • In the year 2000, the total amount spent on domestic and foreign travel in the US was $580.8 billion. This figure reduced drastically from 2001 to 2003. The expected rise came in 2004 with $600.1 billion spent on domestic and foreign travel.
  • As of 2000, the revenue of the US tourism industry was $516 billion. However, after the 9/11 attack, the revenue went down for three consecutive years until 2004 when the industry began to recover and the revenue amounted to $546.4 billion.