Ever since the coronavirus outbreak, travel has come to a near standstill. During this downtime, many airlines and hotels are shifting gears to help keep people in need safe. Now more than ever, it’s important for everyone in the world to come together and support each other. So, what exactly is the travel industry doing to help?

The entire travel industry is finding many unique ways to help. For example, airlines such as JetBlue are putting in strong effort to help fight the coronavirus. They have helped fly more than 600 medical professionals out to support New York State, and have helped transport 2,500 CPAP devices which were donated by Mercury Medical. These devices help take care of patients’ lungs to prevent the need for ventilation. JetBlue is also donating 50 cots, as well as blankets and amenity kits to hospitals in South Nassau Long Island and Manhattan.

Many organizations are doing their part to help with relief efforts not just on the home front, but also around the world. In fact, American Airlines is also working with UNICEF’s relief work to help families in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala. Supplies such as water, sanitation, health kits and protective equipment are being sent to children and families in order to help prevent and slow down the spread of the virus.

Since most hotels are now empty, many have offered up their empty rooms to hospitals and homeless shelters. This way, the extra rooms can be put to use so that they may serve as additional hospital rooms, places for homeless people to sleep and stay healthy, as well as quarantine zones for health workers on the front lines. Even cruise lines, who were hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic have offered up their empty ships to be used as places of quarantine.

There has also been a movement among those in the industry to increase focus on traveler wellbeing and mental health.  May 5^th has now been named a new Global Business Travel Wellbeing Day, created to raise awareness and create a healthier and happier experience going forward and coming out of the travel lockdown.

Aside from these larger-scale endeavors, companies are also finding ways to have a strong impact on the community. United Airlines has taken their employees, who are no longer serving people in the air, and created a call campaign in California to reach out to retired seniors who are the most at risk of our community. United employees are using this time to provide some comfort and joy into everyday life.   Fox World Travel is also doing our part, to help take our travel expertise and put it to good use for parents and children stuck at home through our Foxplorers program. 

Of course, many more airlines and hotels are also doing their part to assist with the fight against COVID-19. Since we’re all in this together, it’s fantastic to see so many in the travel industry to responding to the coronavirus impact. One of the wonderful things that happen during times of crisis, is the shift in mindset to focus on individuals and helping others. As members of the industry, we want to help make sure that this mindset continues even after we make it through the coronavirus pandemic.