Zoom, zoom, zoom used to make us think of a car commercial. Now it conjures up flickering images of friends and co-workers squirreled away in basements with Ikea bookcases or tropical beach backgrounds. The world has discovered that it can do a lot of things over the Internet. I’ve taken to depositing my checks/cheques by taking a picture with my phone. Lawyers are taking depositions by GoToMeetings. Teenagers who can’t go to the mall (horrors) are flooding Amazon with purchases. So, what does that mean for business travel? A lot, in my opinion. I’m a guy who practically lives for Read more
Canada
A month or two ago, when all this crazy coronavirus stuff hit the fan, I suggested that 2020 may be The Summer of Canada given our reluctance (and, for now, inability) to travel anywhere else over the next few months, and given the low Canadian dollar and the damage COVID-19 has done to our collective pocketbooks. I’m taking another look at the issue today given a Conference Board of Canada study I spotted the other day (and one I referenced on the weekend during my live interview on CTV News). Today’s Future of Travel Blog also looks at a new Read more
I wrote yesterday about how Air Canada Vacations and Lufthansa both are moving forward with new flights. Now I see Southwest Air in the U.S. is doing the same, and that Disney is looking at how it will re-open Walt Disney World with new social distancing measures. I think we can safely say that we’re moving into the early stages of recovery for the travel and tourism business. The steps are small, but they’re happening across a spectrum of businesses. And that’s great to see. Disney Recovery Plans My friends at TravelPulse in the U.S. have a story in their Read more
Today’s Future of Travel blog looks at everything from the impact of cancelled cruises to a series of new suspensions by cruise companies and airlines. It seems things are getting better, but it’s going to be a while until we travel in any significant manner. Cruise Cancellations Hit Canada Holland America on Wednesday announced it has cancelled all its cruises for Canada/New England, Europe and Alaska for this year because of the COVID-19 crisis. It’s a blow for consumers who had plans to travel, of course. But there’s also a huge impact on the destinations. Cities and countries around the Read more
Today’s Future of Travel blog looks at some of the countries that could be hit hardest by a tourism drop. I also have great news for Norwegian Cruise Line, which has received $2 billion US in financing, plus news about Canadian attractions being left behind by government aid programs, hotel cleanliness programs and news from both Royal Caribbean and Silversea cruises. Oh, and baseball, too! COVID-19 And Tourism Impact We all know from the headlines that Italy and Spain had a hard time with COVID-19, and that the UK and the US seem far worse off than Canada. But what Read more
