Hotel Industry Faces Omicron Variant With Concerns About Travel Bans
Photo Credit: The discovery a new coronavirus variant came just as the hotel sector was beginning to pick up steam in its recovery thanks to reopening international borders. Pixabay / Sabolaslo
Skift Take
We’re still weeks away from knowing just how much of an impact the Omicron variant will have on the travel industry. But companies can already discern just how much of a role government can have in altering the course of recovery.
It only took less than three weeks to go from major hotel CEOs predicting a record-setting 2022 to a new coronavirus variant ushering in fears of another travel sector nosedive.
The Omicron variant, first detected in southern Africa last week, sparked a global spree of travel bans and restrictions in recent days on international arrivals from several African countries. Global leaders like U.S. President Joe Biden Monday labeled Omicron a “variant of concern” while also stressing it is not one to panic about.
But it is already evident Omicron is a speed bump in the travel industry’s recovery path.
Even though it is early days in being able to predict how the new variant will impact the world, Omicron is another reminder government response — overreactions, some say — can throw off a hotel recovery many saw as finally just getting global momentum.
“Government overreaction and government interference in travel is going to be the long-lasting legacy of Covid, and I think that is a bit of what we're seeing this time around,” said Richard
