LANSING, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – One of the industries that may be impacted the most by the current COVID-19 situation is that of tourism.
Among the items noted in the most recent Federal Reserve’s Beige Book shows US businesses are worried about the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, including how it’s harming travel and tourism. For example, Washington DC officials estimate the outbreak could cost the Nation’s Capital 52 million dollars in tourism business from a eight-billion-dollar industry.
Pure Michigan Vice President Dave Lorenz admits that COVID-19 is a concern, but he urges caution without panicking among his colleagues in the business. “I don’t anticipate that this is going to be like a H1N1 situation, where we didn’t have any pausing of international travel in that time, and that caused a lot of problems,” he said during his weekly appearance on “WHTC Morning News.”
In Hawaii, a reported 27 percent increase in bankruptcies could be even higher as the strain impacts that state’s important tourism industry.
