Travel Slows During the Pandemic

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected many aspects of many people’s lives throughout the world. One major impact of coronavirus has been on travel and tourism. Since most people are being expected to maintain social distancing at home, many flights and other mainstream sources of transportation have been shut down or are limited in use, encouraging social distancing. There are over 50 million jobs in global travel and tourism that will be affected by coronavirus, according to the World Economic Forum.

“Of the 50 million jobs that could be lost, around 30 million would be in Asia, 7 million in Europe, 5 million in the Americas and the rest in other continents,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

On March 11, President Donald Trump announced a travel ban to much of Europe, barring entry to any traveler attempting to travel to the United States from most of Europe. This ban was then extended until April 30. The United States also has limited “nonessential travel across its borders with Mexico and Canada” in hopes of reducing the spread of coronavirus. These travel bans have majorly affected the travel industry, especially airline companies.

“Global air transport industry revenues could fall $252 billion, 44 percent below 2019’s numbers,” the International Air Transport Association said.

Many airlines have utilized deep sanitation techniques to clean their plane; in February, Delta Airlines started using a fogging technique with a highly-effective, EPA-registered disinfectant. However, many people are still reluctant to travel and take the risk of contracting the virus.

Many cruise companies have also suspended operations from March 12 to May 10, or have, at the very least, suspended outbound cruises for about a month. The U.S. Department of State issued a warning against cruise travel on March 8.

“U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship,” the U.S. Department of State said.

COVID-19 has taken a major toll on the travel industry, and it is unclear when things will go back to normal. However, it is important to stay strong during this time and maintain social distancing so that we can all return to our daily lives as soon as possible.