My thoughts on Coronavirus and travel

For the past few weeks my days have revolved around all things Coronavirus. From conversations with travelers about the impact on their travel and making decisions on what to do, to information sharing with colleagues about impact on business and best courses of action for our clients, to days spent cancelling and rearranging travel plans of travelers meant to depart this month to various parts of the world, to seeing a massive halt in my business of clients booking travel because of fear of the unknown.

I’m writing this simply to share my personal thoughts and opinions on the matter, from the perspective of someone in the thick of it from many different angles and who deeply cares about the travel experiences my clients have trusted me to be a part of, and of course their health and well-being as they travel the world. 

First, let’s just state the obvious. I’m not a doctor, or a scientist, or even a lady with a crystal ball who is able to look into the future and say with certainty exactly where this is going. 

But my hope is that we can all make informed decisions and view this epidemic from the lens of actual FACTS, and not rely on sensationalism and media-hype. Information is coming at us from all directions, but not all of it is worthy of our attention or useful for basing important decisions off of.

Coronavirus is not fake news. But I think it does some good to understand the actual risk and danger, rather than just focusing on worst-case scenarios and the scariest reports we can drum up.  

Our world is full of risks, both big and small. As human beings we evaluate these risks constantly and figure out which ones we are going to worry about and which we choose to disregard. The potential risk with coronavirus is ranking high on so many people’s radars as something we need to be very worried about in part because it’s what we keep hearing about. Case after case, outbreak after outbreak, how many have died, etc. And what makes for a better news story is not the 98% of people who have survived or have had mild cases and are otherwise ok, but the 2% who aren’t.   (btw, we do the opposite with the flu -- which is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths per year.)

However, the feeling of risk is a real thing that many people are experiencing, and as it relates to travel, my desire for people who are deciding whether or not now is a good time to see and experience the world is that you are not only safe, but that your time is enjoyable. I know that your leisure time is valuable, and it is certainly not ideal to spend such precious time if all you will be doing is worrying. 

But if you are truly wondering if it is safe to travel, then the answer is mostly yes. While it’s true that there are some travel restrictions in place to just a small handful of destinations, the majority of the world is still very open. Also understand that restrictions are “ based on a careful risk assessment, be proportionate to the public health risk, be short in duration, and be reconsidered regularly as the situation evolves”-WHO. They are actually often put in place to allow countries to implement sustained response measures and this is a good thing, and certainly doesn’t mean that Italy, for instance, should be scrapped from your 2020 plans all together.

I also would encourage you to watch this video in regards to travel during the outbreak from the World Health Organization. Information from them and the CDC is where you should look to focus on the facts. I promise you this is better information than your friend from high school is sharing on Facebook. 

I saw the following posted on a sign in Beijing, China, (I’m taking their word that the translation is correct), and this is the best advice I can give as well.

Strong prevention, don’t panic, believe in science, don’t spread rumors.

I believe that is it in a nutshell. Let’s do our part to be informed citizens and take the necessary precautions both here at home and abroad. This virus is likely not going anywhere any time soon, and this will be something that we continue to learn how best to deal with. My hope is that we do so from a place of knowledge and not fear.

For more helpful information please check out this document: How to Prevent the Fear of Coronavirus From Spreading