COVID-19 One Year and Counting | Travel Research Online

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COVID-19 One Year and Counting

Well, here we are.  In early February of last year I wrote about our role in the then-foreign “Wuhan Coronavirus”. In early March I talked about my fears becoming a reality. And by mid-March, I was gobsmackedat what we were facing.  And here we are. What I thought and hoped would be a two-week bug has turned into something much more devastating to health and beyond.

Take a look at this screenshot from my March 2nd column

85,000 cases worldwide and nearly 3,000 deaths.  And here we are just over a year later with 119,207,662 cases worldwide with 2,641,907 deaths.  Let that sink in for bit. In 376 days, 2,638,974 people have lost their lives. 219,914 per month. 7,019 people have died, every day for the past year. I am still gobsmacked.

On March 16th, I had some thoughts and suggestions for the industry to weather what looked to be a Category 8 hurricane headed our way.

  • The biggies will survive, beaten and bruised for sure but they will survive.
  • Many agencies will not survive
  • Expect an extended disinterest in travel
  • Expect interest in travel; but expect disinterest in actually traveling
  • Inform your clients
  • Get good with video
  • Educate yourself
  • Get fresh air
  • Stand and work with your fellow local businesses

All seem to be right on the money. And to be honest, they are as valid today as we pass the one-year mark as they were then.

Thankfully one statistic I quoted has not come to fruition in that 50% to 70% of the population will contract COVID in some form (mostly minor); but that looks to be closer to 10%. Whew!

I rehash this to emphasize that we are emerging from this pandemic, but the end is not here just yet.  River Cruising is starting up again. Hotels and resorts are opening. Cruise lines are figuring out what they will require of passengers once they resume plying the waters of the world.

We need to be careful though. We need to follow the best practices to prevent further spread. We need to keep in touch with our clients and vendors. We need to keep bettering ourselves and prepare for when the desire to travel returns to match the interest.

It’s coming. Will you be prepared?

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