The travel business is beginning to take flight
The nation’s largest airlines are preparing for a limited rebound next month as more Americans book vacations in places like Florida and the mountains and national parks in the West.
That resurgence would offer some hope to the travel industry, which racked up billions of dollars in losses as tourists and businesspeople canceled trips in the past three months because of the coronavirus epidemic. Some in the industry said the recovery was already underway.
The Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort said it was enjoying brisk business after local officials last week lifted a coronavirus shutdown order that had been in place since March.
The 1,594-room resort was about one-third full this weekend and is on track to be packed for the July Fourth weekend, said Phil Goldfarb, who oversees the Fontainebleau. But the visitors streaming in are not the ones he expected. In the summer, the hotel typically fills up largely with Florida residents. This year, the people booking rooms are coming from across the country.
“California and Texas and New York and New Jersey are the top four markets, all before Florida,” said Goldfarb, president and chief operating officer of hospitality at Fontainebleau Development, which owns the hotel and other properties. “People are getting in planes and social distancing but coming here.”
After cratering in April, the number of travelers and airline and airport employees filtering through the Transportation Security Administration’s airport checkpoints has steadily climbed in recent weeks. The low point arrived on April 14, when the agency screened fewer than
90,000 people, just 4% of those screened the same date last year.