The U.S. government is officially shut down until a new budget agreement can be reached.
TPG has been covering how this will affect the travel industry. The U.S. Travel Association estimates that it will affect the economy to the tune of $1 billion lost every week. Travel is the country’s No. 1 service export and directly employs 8 million American workers. And that’s not counting the millions of federal employees who will have to work without pay or could be furloughed.
A shutdown will likely have a ripple effect across the country, such as postponing Federal Aviation Administration training for new air traffic controllers, eventually causing a slowdown in passport and Global Entry processing times, and likely shuttering many national parks, which directly affects the economies in many rural gateway communities.
Some state governments are stepping in to devise plans and help fund operations to keep select national parks open for visitors (many of whom plan years in advance for these trips) — like Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Zion National Park in Utah.
And if you are traveling in the next few days or weeks, since we could also see an increase in airport delays or flight cancellations as these impacts often grow with time, make sure you have a backup travel plan and follow these tips:
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Photo Credit: ROBERT ALEXANDER/GETTY IMAGES.
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