COVID-19 UPDATE
March 6, 2020
See Plymouth continues to closely monitor the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the travel industry. This week’s news, including the cancellation of ITB Berlin as well as major tech conferences across the United States, indicates that significant disruption from COVID-19 will continue well into spring.
We continue to work in concert with the U.S. Travel Association, Tourism Economics, and the CDC to develop up-to-date messaging for our members.
See Plymouth will bolster its seasonal promotions, including the Tiny Trip campaign, to include hotel packages and any special hotel offers that are now available.
If you are running any special deals through April, please send them to
Paula Fisher
and we will promote them on our website and through our social channels. If you wish to join the Tiny Trip campaign, cost is only $150.
U.S. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION TOOLKIT
U.S. Travel is hosting bi-weekly conference calls with experts from the FAA, CDC, Customs and Border Protection, and Tourism Economics to keep the travel industry up to date on this evolving situation. U.S. Travel has shared an
emergency response toolkit that includes:
EAST | WEST MARKETING GROUP
The Boston CVB’s partner agency in China, East|West Marketing Group, is sharing
weekly updates with the GBCVB and President/CEO Martha Sheridan has shared this with all RTC members. See Plymouth will distribute this report to our members as we receive them.
AIR SERVICE
Hainan Airlines suspended flights from mainland China to Boston Logan International Airport in early February. Major US carriers have suspended service to and from China through the end of April. Cathay Pacific has reduced their daily service from Hong Kong to 3X/week, and Korean Air has reduced their 5X/week service from Seoul to 3X/week. JAL service from Tokyo has not been impacted.
BUSINESS IMPACT
Many of you are expressing concern over potential lost business and the uncertainty surrounding major events, conferences and meetings scheduled in 2020. We invite you to send any examples of lost business – including room nights lost, dates, and industry sector impacted – so that we as an industry can track the impact of COVID-19 and collectively understand its effect. We encourage all of our partners – restaurants, retailers, museums and attractions, et al. – to share information with us.
INSURANCE POLICIES
While we hope that the coronavirus situation is contained in short order, we implore all See Plymouth members to
review insurance policies and be prepared for lost business and cancellations.
