With the head of the International Energy Agency recently declaring that Europe has “maybe six weeks or so of jet fuel left” many travel experts are predicting a serious slowdown in tourist travel to the United States.
IEA Director Faith Birol painted a dire picture of what this means to global travel, saying “this is the largest energy crisis we have ever faced.” It is all due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its impact on oil shipments globally.
Right on cue, German airline Lufthansa announced today that it is cancelling 20,000 flights immediately and spreading into the fall. Dutch airline KLM has also announced it will be cancelling hundreds of flights.
Not only is jet fuel supply an issue, the price of jet fuel has more than doubled since the start of the Iran War. This means tickets on those flights to the US not cancelled could cost passengers $400 to $700 more than usual, prices significantly higher than many will be able or willing to pay.
The jet fuel crisis isn’t just hitting Europe, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Quantas, United, and many others have announced flight cancelation inbound to the US and/or ticket price increases.
A walk down Route 66 in Williams, or a visit to any restaurant makes the potential disaster readily apparent. Williams is very heavily dependent on International travelers, particularly Europeans.
Oil industry experts warn that the “hoping for the best” and “somebody will figure it out” crowd are in for a major disappointment as there is no easy fix for the supply problems the world is now facing. One oil industry veteran warning, “even if the Strait of Hormuz were to open today, the disruption in the supply chain and long distances involved in shipping means months of pain ahead, and that doesn’t even account for the damage done to oil infrastructure from the war.
The recent assertions by some locals on social media that higher gas prices in the US will benefit Williams with more American visitors is simply not in line with the overwhelming historical patterns of the past.
Any further downturn in revenue derived from tourist based taxes beyond the decreases we’ve already seen could spell disaster for the City of Williams at a time when it appears to be aggressively spending on a ballooning payroll, and projects.
