Reinventing Holidays for the Coronavirus Era
It’s hard to sell tour packages when people won’t be roaming too far from home.
Prepare for a road-trip renaissance.
Photographer: Richard Baker/Corbis via Getty Images
The world’s biggest package-holiday company has given a glimpse of what vacations will look like as long as the novel coronavirus remains a potent health threat. Say goodbye to the all-you-can eat buffet and get ready for a renaissance in road trips as getting away means staying very close to home for the foreseeable future.
That’s bad news for Tui AG, which gets the majority of its business from international holidaymakers. On Wednesday, the German company said it will cut up to 8,000 jobs, about 15% of its workforce, to slash costs and cope with the new, grim reality in the global travel industry. Lockdowns paralyzing countries around the world meant it burned through 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) of cash from March 27 to May 10, as it had to shut hotels, cancel trips and refund customers.
Even as restrictions are eased, the near future doesn’t look much brighter. Discussions on reopening international borders are only just beginning, leaving the potential for lengthy quarantines — not a great way to spend one’s vacation. And there’s no certainty holidaymakers worried about catching the virus will want to travel abroad anyway. So this summer looks pretty much like a washout. Tui has only sold around 35% of its summer 2020 offerings, compared to the some 60% it would usually have booked up by now in a normal year.