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WHO: South America 'effectively' new epicenter for coronavirus
Read in Browser Morning Brew crew@morningbrew.com Unsubscribe
6:55 AM (6 minutes ago)to me
Read in Browser TOGETHER WITHGood Saturday morning. Did we catch you at home? Thought so. Memorial Day Weekend, typically one of the busiest travel periods in the U.S., is almost unrecognizable this year. Highways are open, airports are mostly empty...even the line at Seacrets in Ocean City isn't looking too bad.None of this is surprising to travel execs, who say the pandemic is the worst crisis the sector has ever faced. In this week’s edition of the Brew’s New Normal series, we explore the world of pandemic-era travel. Tl;dr: It may involve a lot more bubbles.MARKETS
NASDAQ9,014.56+ 0.79%S&P2,863.70+ 0.39%DJIA23,685.42+ 0.25%GOLD1,754.20+ 0.76%10-YR0.647%+ 2.70 bpsOIL29.76+ 7.98%*As of market close- Economic data: U.S. retail sales fell a record 16.4% in April as lockdown measures pummeled consumer spending. Clothing store sales fell 79% from March and even grocery purchases dropped 13%. Online sales grew 21.6% year-over-year.
- More economic data: Industrial production declined 11.2% in April. That drop is—wait for it—a record.
- Stimulus: The Democratic-controlled House passed a $3 trillion economic relief bill last night, but it's pretty much DOA in the Republican-controlled Senate.
MARKETS
NASDAQ9,324.59+ 0.43%S&P2,955.45+ 0.24%DJIA24,465.16- 0.04%GOLD1,735.90+ 0.81%10-YR0.661%- 1.20 bpsOIL33.61- 0.91%*As of market close- Jobs: No state has escaped the jobs crisis. Unemployment rates rose in all 50 states and D.C. in April, according to the Labor Department. 43 states reported their highest unemployment rates ever.
- International: Hong Kong’s Hang Sang Index had its worst daily drop since 2015 following news that China would pass a bill giving it more control over Hong Kong.
- U.S. markets: Coming off a week of gains, the stock market will be closed on Monday to observe Memorial Day.
Richard Bord/Getty ImagesIn the world of travel, the coronavirus pandemic has set us back 700 years. Leaving our little village now feels like seeing the world for the first time—WOW, did you know about that Walgreens on Route 9? Incredible! And what’s with these strange-looking people from the town over? They have short hair!As lockdowns ease, our radius of travel will widen, but it will remain much tighter than before. Here’s why regional travel will be popular in our “new normal.”- Travelers may perceive it to be a safer alternative to long-distance travel.
- It’s cheaper (U.S. unemployment sits at 14.7%).
- Traveling internationally will be a logistical nightmare. Why go to Paris, France, when you’ve got Paris, TX?
In fact, regional travel is already starting to pop up around the world in pockets known as “travel bubbles.” These bubbles form when adjacent countries call each other up, say “hey neighbor, looks like we’ve got this virus thing under control,” and open up borders to promote tourism and trade.- On May 15, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania formed the first “travel bubble” of the coronavirus era.
- Australia and New Zealand have also floated the idea, but nothing has materialized yet.
Regional travel in the U.S.
Many analysts expect summer 2020 to herald the return of the Great American Road Trip, as travelers explore destinations closer to home in the comfort of their own cars. According to a GasBuddy survey…- 36% of respondents are canceling trips that require flying, and 24% plan to make shorter trips by distance.
- 31% are planning to take a road trip (still down from 44% last year).
Not to mention, gas prices around Memorial Day are the cheapest they’ve been in almost 20 years, AAA says.Bottom line: With your Machu Picchu trip replaced by Motel 6 hopping, all players in the travel industry—from airlines to hotels to booking sites and more—will need to adapt to the increasing popularity of more localized travel.Giphy/LegoMorning Brew’s CEO has urgent newsletter business to attend to in Hong Kong and doesn't feel like taking a boat to get there. This is what Alex’s international travel experience might look like:Booking the flight: A little more expensive than Alex would’ve hoped. Prices have made a steady recovery since they hit rock bottom in March.Arriving at the airport: Thermal cameras determine whether he has an elevated body temperature. And there’s no wait at Starbucks? Huge.Going through security: Airports are still struggling to find the balance between screening passengers more thoroughly but not creating huge lines. Alex steps up to a CLEAR biometric scanner to verify his digital ID and his health status.On the plane: Alex is instructed by the gate agent to don his mask. His seat is in the back row, so he gets to board first.Deplaning: Alex and the other passengers are instructed by flight attendants to deboard in small groups to maintain social distancing. Before clearing customs, Alex is required to download a contact tracking app.Clearing customs: Once he makes it through immigration, Alex is herded onto a bus and transported to a makeshift facility where he is given a testing kit to use on himself. After a 7-hour wait, he’s told he tested negative and is cleared to go about his important newsletter business.HOSPITALITY
Hotels or Home Rentals: Pick Your Poison
For the last decade, hoteliers have glared at Airbnb’s success like a dog leaving an unwelcome souvenir on their lawn. But COVID-19 doesn't care whether you’re the disruptor or the disrupted.Travel is resuming to a hospitality industry changed. Hotels are considering ending turndown service and ditching in-person check-in desks. Airbnb wants to focus more on part-time hosts and longer-term rentals for escaping city residents.Who will win customers back in this new normal? Let’s break it down, Rory Gilmore-style.Hotels
- Pros: More generous cancellation policies. Professional cleaning services. More consistency across locations. Marketing budgets.
- Cons: Lobbies and elevators with more people bumping into each other. All of the fun perks (like bars, spas, pools) may be limited.
Rentals
- Pros: More units outside cities, which travelers may avoid. Fewer people sharing the building. Many offer self check-in.
- Cons: Variability in cleaning. For rented rooms, less privacy and social distancing.
The new differentiator
“Cleanliness and hygiene will be the new five-star restaurant or 800-thread-count sheets,” industry analyst Henry Harteveldt told the NYT.Airbnb has less hygiene standardization compared to a hotel chain with trained staff and industrial-grade cleaners. But it did introduce new cleaning protocols and will highlight hosts who comply.Bottom line: As was the case before the pandemic, there are tradeoffs to both hotels and short-term rentals. What may matter most is transparency around hygiene and flexibility in cancellations/refunds.SPONSORED BY MAGIC SPOON
Halt Thou Scrolling for We Found the Magic Cereal
After many days and many nights—having traversed the land of couches, forded the river of phone chargers, and climbed the mountain of ramen noodles—we came upon the magic cereal.When word reached us that there is a cereal that recreates our favorite childhood breakfasts with more protein, less carbs, and zero sugar, we believed it to be a fantasy. And then, found it:This healthy cereal is the ideal thing to have in your pantry right now. Somehow—we’re thinking sorcery—it packs all the things you love about classic cereal into a gluten, grain, soy, and junk-free package.From fruity and cinnamon to cocoa and frosted, their flavors are truly tasty. And TIME Magazine named Magic Spoon a Top 100 Invention of 2019. For cereal.Join us in the fantasy that is Magic Spoon’s magical cereal today. Don’t forget the code “BREW” at checkout for free shipping.BUSINESS TRAVEL
Will Delta Sky Club Lounges Ever Fill Up Again?
Sperrys have become an endangered species at Scottsdale’s finest Hiltons. 92% of corporate travel managers say their employers have canceled or suspended all or most domestic travel, while sales for business travel booking service AmEx Global Business Travel reportedly fell 70% year-over-year in March.- Most Fortune 500 CEOs said they don’t expect business travel to ever return to pre-pandemic levels.
- And according to Sanofi's CEO, "the one-meeting trip will disappear forever." (It may never have been necessary in the first place.)
Then there's the growing WFH movement. Large tech companies including Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, and others have all signaled they'll allow a large chunk of their workforce to work from home...permanently. If these companies don't think it's worth it for employees to commute 30 min. to the office, why would they pay to fly in consultants from other cities?Still, not all business travel will disappear, especially at the highest rungs of the corporate ladder. You need to look someone in the eye when you propose a $100 billion takeover—you just might not shake their hand when you seal the deal.Bottom line: Former Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza estimates business travel will permanently fall 5%–10% as a result of the coronavirus.VIRTUAL REALITY
Virtual Travel: Can’t Lose Your Bags If You Don’t Leave Home
So the pandemic has knocked out traditional travel. But it’s 2020—why actually go somewhere when you could metaverse-go somewhere?- You probably remember getting emails from every publication you’ve ever glanced at hawking virtual tours of The Smithsonian to the Great Wall of China the moment lockdowns began.
The value prop: Virtual reality (VR) travel advocates were touting its environmental benefits even before the pandemic. And now we’ve all seen those photos of Venice’s cryColumnists Obama Had Plans to Stop Flynn CNN Was Used to Spread Lies And They're Just Fine with That Joe Biden’s Words Cut Deep. This is Why. Democrats Warning Trump Will Reject Election Results Should Look in the Mirror Obamagate: Obama’s Ship of Lies and Deceit Has Run Aground Poll: Democrats Much More Likely Than Republicans to Snitch on Neighbors for 'Lockdown' fontViolations Reopening Ourselves to God Prioritizing Climate Over Pandemics Could Camp Randall Be Empty This Fall? ADVERTISEMENT Stay Positive When Considering the Future of Education Policy Changes that Have Been Sparked by the Coronavirus Pandemic Joe Biden Decides Who’s “Really” Black Gutting Patent Protections Won't Cure COVID-19 Cal Thomas: Name-calling It’s Time to Be Americans Again L.A. Is No Day At The Beach Big Money for the Mayor, Bigger Return for Borror Video Gov. Evers: Saying Abortionists 'Execute Babies' Is 'Blasphemy' Trump blasts Schiff as 'political hack' Pelosi's condescension offers some laughs Pelosi open to border infrastructure INVESTING Shocker: Only Six House Democrats Voted Against Illegal Immigrants Voting Fascism Is Socialism: Here’s The Proof Die For The Dow? What The Data Really Says This Overlooked Part Of Tax Code Is Crucial For Protecting Business What Happened In New Jersey's Nursing Homes? Bigger Government Means More Corruption ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1928 Rosemary Clooney
American actress and musician1933 Joan Collins
English actress1707 Carolus Linnaeus
Swedish botanist1971 George Osborne
British politician1912 John Payne
American actor1883 Douglas Fairbanks
American actorSEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY May 23 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Captain Kidd READ MORE FEATURED EVENT 1951 Tibet annexed by China READ MORE Advertisement Advertisement MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2015: American mathematician John Nash , who won the 1994 Nobel Prize for Economics for his landmark work on game theory and who struggled with paranoid schizophrenia, died at age 86. [ Test your knowledge of the Nobel Prize.] 2000: American rapper Eminem released The Marshall Mathers LP , which became the fastest-selling album in the history of rap. [Take our hip-hop quiz.] 1934: Bonnie and Clyde, notorious American outlaws, were killed in a police shoot-out near Gibsland, Louisiana. [Test your knowledge of famous outlaws.] 1915: Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, entering World War I on the side of the Allies. [Sort fact from fiction in our World War I quiz.] 1707: Swedish botanist and explorer Carolus Linnaeus, the first to frame principles for defining genera and species of organisms and to create a uniform system for naming them, was born in Råshult. [ Test your knowledge of botany.] 1706: Allied (Anglo-Dutch) forces led by the duke of Marlborough recorded a major victory over the French at the Battle of Ramillies, a turning point in the War of the Spanish Succession. [ Match the battle with the war in our quiz.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY Trump to Visit Florida for SpaceX Florida mom facing murder charge after autistic son, 9, found dead, police sayLaunch With NASA Astronauts President Donald Trump plans to travel to Florida on Wednesday to view the launch of SpaceX’s manned test mission to the International Space Station, according to a U.S. official. The launch will mark the first time NASA astronauts have blasted off f[...] Ben Garrison: Feast of the Naked Shorts (Wolves of Wall Street and Washington DC) – Veterans Today Ben Garrison: Feast of the Naked Shorts (Wolves of Wall Street and Washington DC) – Veterans Today Iran’s supreme leader calls for Israel’s destruction in Twitter screed on anti-Israel holiday Read More Ben Garrison: Feast of the Naked Shorts (Wolves of Wall Street and Washington DC) – Veterans Today
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