It Won’t Get Better in the Second Half of 2020

I doubt I am the first one breaking this to the travel industry and it still breaks my heart to say it: It won’t get better for the global travel industry for the rest of the year. The glimmer of hope of May is now dissolving in the gloom of June headlines — and reality — all around us. There was some hope after the lockdown of March and April that the second half of 2020 would be better, that the first wave of the pandemic will be over for the most part as lockdown would have flattened the curve in the majority of the world. There was the belief that even though a vaccine may not come until next year, people will be tired of being cooped up in their houses and will come out, adjust to the conditions and start traveling again. At least the pent-up demand will be there, and “40 percent occupancy” could become the new normal. Even the usually skeptical team here at Skift was excited about the grand reopening of travel, so much so that we launched a fully dedicated site and timeline at Reopening.travel. And while many reopenings of borders, hotels, desti