Mike FriedmanTravel – HOPE
I was thinking about travel today and realized that I was feeling something unusual. Perhaps an emotion that I had known at one time, but it had been so long that I couldn’t quite remember its name. And then it came to me: hope.
Some Travel Optimism
As crappy as 2020 has been, the month of November has begun to offer us some reason for optimism. The most recent turn has come from the pharmaceutical industry. On November 9, Pfizer announced that its vaccine was 90% effective against COVID-19. Moderna followed up the next week claiming 94.5% efficacy and Pfizer, not to be outdone, upped its estimate to 95% on Tuesday. It is a great feeling to have some travel hope, as well as hope in general.
While every travel company was hurt by COVID, the cruise lines arguably suffered the most. With the last passenger cruises have shut down in April, the cruise lines have generated virtually no revenue in the past eight months. And while they were able to cut back on a lot of their variable costs, such as food and labor, they still had to pay interest and storage on the ships, not to mention rent and land-based employees. When the results of the Pfizer vaccine were announced, Carnival Cruise lines stock jumped 35%.
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They’re not out of the deep water yet. Despite the lifting of the CDC’s no-sail order, it’s still going to be a few months before they’re back on the high seas. And because none of these companies are US-based, they’re not receiving bailouts or support from the federal government.
Still, we’ve booked a family cruise for December 2021, and I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll get to go.
And In Other News…
- Las Vegas continues to win air service, with Allegiant Air announcing four new routes to the city.
- If you want a free $40 of anything, check out this cash back shopping offer from Rakuten.
- Hotels are still suffering. Smith Travel Research noted that revenue per available room for October was down 49%, with occupancy down 30% and room rates down 27%.
- See the Grand Canyon during COVID-19 and “We are all in this together” – Circa VIP Black Tie Opening.
- Want a free cruise? Cruise lines are seeking volunteers to take a “practice” voyage. I’d assume that the buffet will be closed.
- Got a spare half-million dollars? Consider a socially-distanced trip to Fiji.
- And finally, here’s a video of Erasure’s Andy Bell singing Stand by your Man. That dude can make anything sound good.
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