Communications from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding a return to travel have been rocky at best, says the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), which sent a letter to the director of the CDC last week in an effort to urge the organization to prioritize restoring consumer confidence in domestic and international travel.
A swift rebound will be critical for the industry’s recovery, but travel businesses are currently without reassurance from health officials that it is safe to resume travel, according to Zane Kerby, ASTA’s CEO and president.
“Our research indicates this message from the government will outweigh any other messages — from travel suppliers, from government officials outside public health departments, even from friends and family in influencing consumer confidence,” Kerby wrote in the letter. “For the federal government, this means the CDC must have a central role in formulating specific guidelines for travel in the near future.”
Since the coronavirus outbreak began, the depressed industry has shrunk by more than 50%, with the travel agency community forecasting a loss of $7.7 billion in revenue in 2020.
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The CDC has provided specific guidance on traveling via cruise ships with its “No Sail Order,” Kerby notes, but it has not shown the same level of communication when it comes to other modes, leaving consumers and travel advisors to “rely on a patchwork of regional, state and local pronouncements to inform their decision making with respect to travel.”
This lack of messaging also impacts travel suppliers — including airlines, hotels, tour operators, car rental companies, insurance providers and more — who are faced with reopening and restarting operations without any clarity as to when and how they should do so.
“This uncertainty is, unquestionably, inhibiting the pace of the revival of the travel industry,” Kerby said.
This uncertainty is, unquestionably, inhibiting the pace of the revival of the travel industry.
In order for the CDC to be at the forefront of COVID-19 messaging in the coming weeks and months, ASTA has urged the organization to coordinate with other federal agencies to set clear standards across all travel sectors (which includes communicating with suppliers on what steps they need to take to restart travel safely); prioritize the restart of the cruise industry (which includes establishing industry-wide safety standards and timelines for a coordinated restart); and work toward a resumption of international travel, including focusing on intragovernmental communication to restore a “free flow of travel across borders.”
ASTA’s final goal for the CDC is to work with the U.S. State Department for a push toward the resumption of passport processing. Fortunately, the U.S. State Department restarted processing just two days after the CDC received Kerby’s letter. Currently, 14 of 29 U.S. passport agencies and centers have entered phase one of a three-part reopening strategy.
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That’s not to say that a return to normalcy shouldn’t be “slow and deliberate,” Kerby said, noting that travel’s resumption should be subject to “appropriate health, safety and security measures, which is critical to global economic health.”
“At ASTA, we are committed to working toward a travel industry restart with federal, state and international governments, our members and the broader travel ecosystem in a way that puts the safety and health of U.S. citizens at its center,” Kerby said. “Taken together with the financial relief provided to travel businesses by U.S Congress and the private sector doing its part, we believe the steps outlined above will help instill consumer confidence and get America’s economy, and its intrepid travelers, moving again.”
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American Society of Travel Advisors
www.asta.org
