COVID-19 has affected Austin tourism nine times worse than 9/11 ever did, according to Austin tourism officials.
“This pandemic has hit our hotel industry and our travel tourism industries and it's had a longer lingering effect than 9/11,” said Tom Noonan, president and CEO of the city’s tourism board Visit Austin. “After 9/11 people were angry, they were hurt, there was tragedy and all those things, but people still traveled. During the pandemic people couldn’t travel. Nationally, there’s 50% unemployment in hospitality and tourism right now, and during 9/11, unemployment was never at that level. Our hotel occupancies the few weeks following the shutdown were the lowest we've ever seen.”
Austin's tourism advertising budget is down 50% and hotel occupancy is hovering at 45% to 50%, according to media reports.
“Austin won't be fully back until there's a vaccine in place,” Noonan told the Lone Star Standard. “We're starting to see some success with social distancing, wearing masks and 50% capacity at hotel ballrooms where you can spread the group out, but we won't see festivals or major city-wide conventions back until there’s a vaccine.”
The state of Texas experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases in June. Since then, a total of 739,222 cases were reported as of Sept. 29 with 15,533 deaths, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. In Travis County, where Austin is located, there have been 29,252 coronavirus cases reported to date with 418 fatalities.
Despite the pandemic, Noonan sees hope for the future.
“Meeting planners are still booking the city of Austin," he said. "We're seeing bookings for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 and meeting planners are making those convention decisions for future years. They're planning as if activities are going to take place eventually with commitments to our hotels and the convention center. That's important long-term to build that base.”
Noonan was reluctant to comment on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s coronavirus policies.
As previously reported, Abbott recently issued a new executive order, expanding occupancy levels for retailers. Under the new order, occupancy levels were increased to 75% starting Sept. 21 for restaurants, retail stores, office buildings, manufacturing facilities, gyms, exercise facilities and classes, museums and libraries.
“The governor has a tough job and he's got a lot of people he has to listen to like medical professionals,” Noonan said in an interview. “The first thing we have to do community-wise is put safety first and that's where we're at as a state. I think it's the governor's intention and the mayor's intention. They may be going at it in different ways but we’re just looking forward to having a vaccine and getting back to business as usual.”
The tourism board launched Visit Austin, From Home where tourists can attend a living room dance party, fitness class, watch restaurant chefs cook and musicians perform on the website.
“Visitors can leave a tip online if they want to,” Noonan said. “Doing those kinds of things helps local businesses and artists. We've always promoted local businesses and music venues and we have found new ways of doing that.”
