Coronavirus hits travel business hard, but sunnier days ahead
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NEWARK – Pam Thompson says booking travel this summer will take “a leap of faith.”
The coronavirus pandemic has hit travel agencies especially hard during the last month, and with state governments providing few timetables for lifting restrictions, it can be a depressing time.
Local agents, however, see light at the end of the tunnel. When this cloud over the United States lifts, they expect people will be ready to travel.
“The soonest I am booking people is July, but I have a lot of people re-booking for August because of what we’re hearing is the warm weather will give us the window we can travel,” said Voniessa Brownfield, owner of Weekley Travel. “People are wanting to travel. It’s just the not knowing if we can at this point. That is the difficult part.”
While a sunny outlook could be ahead, agents have spent long hours to make the best out of a bad situation.
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Gov. Mike DeWine announced a stay-at-home order March 15, and many states across the country followed suit in short order. That meant the rescheduling and canceling of dozens of spring break and Easter trips, spanning the globe.
“It feels like a lot longer than three or four weeks,” said Thompson, owner of Thompson Travel Agency. “Tour operators, airlines and cruise ships have been very forgiving. They have given bonus funds to help people reschedule, to cover the costs, have made exceptions to every rule I can think of. They are being very awesome about this. I have never seen the industry pull together like this.”
DeWine has hinted at unveiling a plan to “re-open” non-essential businesses in Ohio, and that would pave the way for more travel. That timeline for other states and countries is less clear.
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David Clay, owner of Parkfield Travel, has two groups scheduled to travel to Europe later this summer, and those plans remain up in the air. Clay said he will not book any new travel beginning before late May, and he expects soon to push that date into late June.
“We are advising clients to really be very judicial in scheduling future travel,” Clay said. “If at all possible, let’s look at some local options. We have great destinations up on the Great Lakes and down in southern Ohio. Maybe instead of going abroad this year, we are going to explore areas closer to home.”
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The coronavirus pandemic has caused unprecedented closures at Disney and Universal Studios theme parks. The hardest hit part of the business, however, was cruise ships as several were stuck at sea as government officials debated how to handle the initial spread of the virus.
Several cruise companies quickly offered full credit plus bonuses for those travelers that chose to re-book scheduled trips for later in the year or 2021. A recent Los Angeles Times story notes several national and international agencies already are seeing evidence the cruise business could have a huge rebound in 2021.
“They got a bad rap,” Brownfield said. “It was not the cruises’ fault that this all came in when you look at the ratio of the amount of people on those ships to the small amount people that were either ill or sadly passed. A lot of them couldn’t get the medical attention because the ports would not allow them to come in.”
With uncertainty around traditional beach getaways this summer, all-inclusive resorts also could be popular. Reported cases of the virus are lower in the Caribbean countries, and travelers can better isolate themselves at the resorts.
Clay, however, warns buyer beware. Airlines have offered stunningly cheap flights during the shutdown, and travelers should not necessarily grab the first too-good-to-be-true deal.
“I take our client relationships very seriously,” Clay said. “They are almost like family to me. I don’t want to look at something and say, ‘That’s a fantastic deal. Jump on it.’ If we are looking at something that’s a great deal but it’s sending you somewhere you might be at risk or you fall into that high-risk category, it’s our job to really counsel you on that.”
It is part of the hometown touch local agents attempt to provide.
It certainly has been an unexpected and eye-opening month for travelers and agents alike.
“I have had calls from people that didn’t book through us who booked online, wanting to know if I could help them because they couldn’t get through or they have been put on hold,” Thompson said. “It’s heartwarming they appreciate us a lot more now than they did three weeks ago. If they have learned anything through this, it’s so important to support your local businesses.”
ksnyder@newarkadvocate.com
740-328-8556
Twitter: @newarkurt
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