The recovery of the travel and tourism sectors in the U.S. has only just begun, and the return of business and international travel is needed for it to fully recover from the more than $621 billion in revenue lost since January 2020.

During the American Hotel & Lodging Association's The Forum Speaker Series, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said it's been a brutal year for the sector. The hotel industry alone lost $146 billion in revenue due to the pandemic, she said.

To help the sector recover, Raimondo said her department will soon announce it is investing $750 million in the travel and tourism industry.

"We're working feverishly to get the money out the door quickly here, because I know time is of the essence," she said.

Raimondo added that these dollars will be flexible as her department understands that travel and tourism is local, and some states might invest in convention centers while others focus on outdoor recreation or marketing.

The Department of Commerce and other departments are also working hard to get Congress to pass President Biden's proposed American Jobs Plan, which she said is "very relevant" to the tourism and travel industry as it focuses on "rebuilding infrastructure, investing in job training, investing in airports, trains, roads, bridges, parks" and clean water, which is "vital to what you do and improving and enhancing tourism's experience."

Biden announced Thursday a deal on a bipartisan infrastructure plan for $1.2 trillion.

It's been talked about throughout the pandemic that business travel needs to come back for the industry to recover, said moderator Chip Rogers, president and CEO of AHLA.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said it's encouraging to see the return of business travel in China and that he hopes the U.S. follows that path of recovery.

When asked by Rogers what can be done to get business travel back on track, Raimondo said she's "doing everything [she] can as an advocate to help reopen key travel corridors to business internationally, like the U.S.-U.K. corridor."

The vaccination rate in the U.S. has increased to 70%, and to make people feel safe and open up those corridors, more people need to be vaccinated, she said.

"As vaccination rates increase, more businesses will feel comfortable with travel, and again, we have to focus on reopening the international corridors" she said. "I'm actually hopeful that post Labor Day, we really will see a nice uptick in business and international travel."

Easing travel restrictions is a top priority, Raimondo added.

"It's essential that as we go beyond the COVID-19 restrictions, we clearly communicate expectations as early as possible and that those expectations be led by data and health guidance," she said.

In discussions of reopening borders, the most progress has been made between the U.S. and U.K., Chris Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA, said. Both countries have been in talks about opening an airport or some flights between the two in a "safe and healthy way," he said.

It's been a different story with Europe as a whole.

"This may be one of the first examples where Brexit hasn't served us well," he said. "The U.K. jumped on deploying vaccinations as we did and they are probably ... nearly as far along as we are in the deployment of that. The rest of the EU was delayed in getting the vaccines and deploying them, so it's been kind of a mess."

EU countries have just opened their borders to vaccinated Americans, which hasn't been reciprocated by the U.S. yet, he said, adding that "proof of vaccination is going to be a critical part of that."

Along with the U.K., the U.S. is targeting Mexico and Canada to reopen the land borders there, Thompson said.

To start welcoming back international guests, Thompson said the U.S. is "starting with an August 1 date of proving we're ready."

"The best example of that is [Americans] getting out and about and enjoying the experiences we're inviting [international visitors] to come and do," he said.

The organization is also going to invite influencers from around the globe to come and experience the U.S. "once the timing is right and we're truly ready" to safely welcome people back, he said.

Thompson added that Brand USA is "fueling that travel dreaming, fueling that pent-up demand we know is out there" to international travelers.