U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman issued the following statement on the Bureau of Labor Statistics March Employment report,which saw the overall economy add 236,000 jobs in March (the lowest monthly gain since December 2020), while the leisure and hospitality sector added 72,000 jobs—well under the average monthly gain of 95,000 over the prior six months:

“The drop-off in leisure and hospitality hiring reported today is a concern as our industry prepares for the busy summer season and the need to fill 1.5 million open jobs in this sector.

“An adequately resourced travel workforce is essential to meeting demand and growing revenue in the travel industry. The federal government can help solve staffing needs by increasing the cap on H-2B temporary worker visas and permanently exempting returning workers from the cap.”