500 Tourism Businesses Warn of Thanksgiving Chaos, Urges Congress to Pass Clean Resolution

Nearly 500 U.S. tourism businesses recently signed a letter (see below), led by the U.S. Travel Association, urging Congress to end the ongoing federal government shutdown by passing a clean continuing resolution (CR). The letter, sent on November 3, 2025, warns of significant economic damage and potential “chaos” for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday travel season.

The businesses, which include major companies like Hilton and Best Western, highlighted several negative impacts of the shutdown:

• Thanksgiving Travel Chaos: The letter emphasizes that Thanksgiving is the busiest travel period of the year, and a continued shutdown would lead to immense disruptions.
• Safety and Delays: Staffing shortages, including thousands of air traffic controllers and TSA officers working without pay, have already led to an increase in airline delays.
• Economic Losses: The U.S. travel economy has already lost an estimated $4 billion due to the shutdown, with billions more at risk if the situation persists through the holiday.
• Lost Confidence: The industry warns that 60 percent of Americans are reconsidering their travel plans, which could cause long-term damage to consumer confidence in the air travel experience.

The letter argues that the fastest way to “restore confidence and restart travel is to reopen the government”.

“When staffing shortages worsen, airport wait times grow longer and flight delays and cancellations become more frequent, threatening to derail family travel plans across the country,” the letter continued, adding, “Now is the moment to demonstrate leadership and prevent a Thanksgiving travel crisis.”

Las Vegas has seen a downturn in travel this year, and the government shutdown is certainly not helping. Major casino operators including MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment Inc., The Venetian, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority were among the signees in a letter.

Nevada mainly relies on the tourism industry for revenue. Yet, Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) has refused to sign the CR, unlike her democratic Nevada colleague Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto.

Despite a letter from Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo (R) urging Senator Rosen to sign the CR, Rosen has dug in her heels, blaming Republicans for the rising healthcare premiums that the democratic party created by passing Obamacare–without a single republican vote.

Families across Nevada start signing up for their 2026 insurance plans today, and prices are way up.

Washington Republicans have done NOTHING to prevent health care costs from spiking. pic.twitter.com/KT2SQp8xJ1

— Senator Jacky Rosen (@SenJackyRosen) November 1, 2025

During the pandemic, the Biden administration subsidized Obamacare premiums and democrats set those subsidies to expire in December 2025. Which begs the following questions: Is Obamacare truly working if it needs more tax payer money to be “affordable”? How is the poorly named “Affordable Care Act” affordable is families can barely afford their prior premiums without the pandemic-era subsidies?

Despite the projection and deflection by democrats like Senator Rosen, the fact remains that Nevada’s travel industry will continue to suffer due to her political posturing as the government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history.