U.S. Capitol Building


Members of Congress assist form the way forward for the journey {industry} — and a few are personally investing in it, too.

A Skift evaluation of congressional monetary disclosures reveals that greater than three dozen lawmakers and their spouses have traded shares in airways, resort chains, cruise corporations, and journey tech corporations.

In all, federal lawmakers and their spouses have made almost 600 particular person journey industry-related inventory trades because the 2021-2022 congressional session, congressional monetary data point out. Taken collectively, the purchases and gross sales are value nicely into the tens of millions of {dollars}.

Shares of Marriott Worldwide, Airbnb, Uber, Hilton Worldwide, and Reserving Holdings rank among the many most steadily traded widespread shares by members of Congress and their spouses. 

Members of Congress are legally allowed to purchase and promote particular person shares so long as they don’t violate the anti-insider buying and selling provisions of the Cease Buying and selling on Congressional Data Act of 2012, often known as the STOCK Act. They have to disclose their trades inside 45 days.

Dozens of members of Congress have violated these disclosure guidelines up to now decade. And a rising variety of elected Republicans and Democrats alike need to restrict or ban buying and selling particular person shares.

Even a few of Congress’ most prolific journey inventory merchants inform Skift that they’re rethinking their funding methods or have not too long ago stopped buying and selling particular person shares.

“The journey and tourism {industry} is affected by tax implications, subsidies, plenty of selections,” mentioned Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, director of presidency affairs for the nonprofit and nonpartisan Challenge on Authorities Oversight. “Lawmakers can go a inventory ban … they may simply put money into broad-based mutual funds proper now.”

Right here is Skift’s company-by-company evaluation of which federal lawmakers are buying and selling journey and tourism {industry} shares:

Prime 5 Most Traded Journey StocksNumber of TradesLawmakers1. Reserving Holdings8582. Marriott6773. Airbnb5974. Hilton3765. Boeing2111

Reserving Holdings

In all, eight members of Congress disclosed making current Reserving Holdings inventory trades inside their rapid households, together with Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Reps. Jefferson Shreve (R-Ind.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Dan Newhouse (D-Wash.), Invoice Keating (D-Mass.), Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas).