Travel's Reopening and Coronavirus Recovery

Unless a vaccine or widespread coronavirus treatment becomes available this year, a W-shaped hotel industry recovery seems likely. But that doesn't mean hoteliers should accept that fate — alternative revenue streams are out there.

Vendors are getting creative with pandemic-related services, like the following: Passport control via facial recognition. Contactless elevators. Food-ordering without needing an app. Luggage disinfection via ultraviolet light. Mask-detecting robots.

States and cities are going to lose a lot of tax revenues from hotels due to the pandemic. The question is how long will the drought last?

Ashford Inc. wants to tout the strength of its smaller businesses that could benefit from changing guest expectations around health and safety, but it can't ignore the billions of dollars in hotel debt held by two of its associated real estate companies.

There is always the potential of going too far with layoffs during an economic downturn. But coronavirus has upended the travel industry with so much uncertainty that Hilton's sizable layoffs reflect a narrowed corporate focus on near-term health, survival, and reopening.

Many hotels won't come back from coronavirus shutdowns, but the downturn in travel won't last forever. It is a shrewd business strategy to plan for future growth, if you can stomach the short-term occupancy meltdown.

There is still a long road to a full economic recovery from coronavirus, but a short-term debt buyback offer and loyalty deals signal Marriott is designing a path to rebound from the worst of the pandemic.

Don't count your deals before they've hatched. Coronavirus has killed valuations of many companies, and deals along with them. On the other hand, some companies, such as Grubhub, are in the right place at the right time.

With an ever-growing array of hotel cleaning programs launched in response to coronavirus, a governing body may be what gives travelers the biggest confidence boost to return to vacationing.

Despegar, Latin America's largest online travel company, will pay much, much less than its original $136 million proposed price to buy Mexican travel agency Best Day. Expect similar tough haggling over deal terms by travel companies across the globe.