This week, Eye on Travel continues the conversation of Covid-19’s impact on the travel industry and the ways in which travelers are moving forward…or not.  Peter speaks with Editor-in-Chief of Travel Weekly, Arnie Weissmann, about theme parks reopening, as well as a unique perspective on the cruise industry and how they will resume sailing. Then, there’s Peter’s conversation about diversity in the hotel workplace, at all employment levels…with the President and CEO of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Andy Ingraham. Is the hotel industry creating pathways for Black employees to move up their company ladders? There are some startling numbers. And then, as Americans begin to embrace the classic summer road trip, Matthew Crawford, author of Why We Drive, on the historic love affair of Americans with their cars and the open road. And the importance of the great American road trip to the fabric of American culture. There’s all of this and more on this week’s broadcast of Eye on Travel.

Click here to listen to the show streaming live from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 11, 2020

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Doug Lansky, Travel Writer & Acclaimed Keynote Speaker,  gives an update about Sweden’s decision to not have any restrictions or lockdowns. The country had an open air experiment, which resulted in 5,400 deaths but with high-risk individuals who didn’t take precautions. Now, Sweden is only seeing a handful of deaths a day. Sweden also took into account the risks associated with staying home, such as domestic abuse and people not going to the hospital for necessary non-coronavirus related procedures. That all being said, Doug says that the Swedes seem to want to stay in their bubbles for now, and he has not been traveling during this time.

Arnie Weissmann, Editor-in-Chief of Travel Weekly, speaks about the conversations across the industry of minimizing risk. There are some potential implementations like checking your temperature when arriving at the airport. Peter and Arnie dive into a conversation on major theme parks opening, including Disney World in Florida this week. Disney has opened Shanghai already, and so it has had time to test. There will be major changes to help make the experience as contactless as possible, including no character meetings and having them on balconies. There are no fireworks. You’re able to order food on your phone and many other ways to keep people from touching as much as possible. Peter and Arnie then shift gears and talk about the cruise industry. The cruise industry was one of the first and worst hit in the pandemic, but now it has a chance to lead the way moving into a new normal of travel. There have been some more far-fetched suggestions like segregating the ship by age, which won’t happen due to the popularity of multi-generational travel. What may happen though is ships turning into “floating bubbles,” where you could be safer on a ship than a vacation based on land.

Matthew B. Crawford, Author of Why We Drive, delves into the importance of the great American road trip to the United States culture. Once you get off the highways and down smaller roads, you’ll find towns and places you didn’t know existed. The country is very diverse and driving it is a great way to discover that. Then, he speaks about how the driverless car may affect road tripping. Crawford believes that Americans want their freedom too much and that people want to have complete autonomy in the near future. He feels that a degree of risk is an inherent part of being human and encourages people to get out of their comfort zones and explore the open roads.

Andy Ingraham, President and CEO of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, explains the need for Black people to hold positions of management within the hotel industry. Black people represent 1 in 65 people in management positions within the hotel industry. It’s the goal of the NABHO to give Black people the opportunity to move up the ladder within this industry. It’s about creating a pipeline and opportunity for upward mobility. Hilton and Marriott hold workshops with their organizations every year and have tried to be leaders in diversity. He says that where you spend your money matters. If you can stay at a Black owned hotel, he encourages it. But if not, he recommends staying at a larger hotel brand that is focused on creating jobs for black people and other people of color.

Carolyn Weppler, Vice President of Sales for Goway Travel, explains how the company, like many other travel providers, has been affected by the choices of airlines. Companies like Goway are at the mercy of the airline. It has great relationships with the airlines typically, but now we are in a position of many airlines dragging their feet on refunds. The issue with vouchers is that people don’t know when they are going to use them, and at the end of the day, people want their money returned.