OREGON UPDATES OREGON UPDATES
When Will Travel Recover? By JT Genter and Caroline Lupini | Forbes | February 11, 2021 A lmost a year ago, the novel coronavirus locked down the world. Over 100 million people are confirmed to have been infected and Covid-19 has killed over 2 million people worldwide. In addition to the health tragedy, the raging pandemic has severely affected industries from entertainment to restaurants. One of the hardest hit sectors has been the travel industry. International borders closed in spring 2020 and some have remained closed since. Who knows when travelers will be able to visit Australia or New Zealand again—which have both managed to virtually eliminate local spread. While domestic U.S. travel has seen relatively few restrictions, there are now discussions of requiring Covid testing even before domestic flights. That’s sure to reduce the spread, but it would also deliver another crushing blow to an already struggling industry. So, when will travel recover? That’s the $8.9 trillion question. With emerging new variants and vaccine distribution delays, that’s a question that we can only guess at the answer to. Still, it’s a question so many of us are asking right now. So, we talked to travel experts from all parts of the industry to get their best guess.
16
The Business Review | May 2021
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online