Will Business Travel Get Slammed by Coronavirus?
February 4, 2020SHARE:
Well, things can’t always go right. After a few years of really strong business thanks to a good U.S. economy and solid spending on meetings and incentives by companies, it is possible that conferences, reward programs, and other business travel could slow down quite a bit in 2020 because of this new virus that is now found in more than 20 countries.
For our AIC Hotel Group Properties in Miami, on the eastern and western coasts of Mexico, and in the Dominican Republic, the good news is that nothing has changed so far, aside from a few room cancellations by Chinese travelers. But what it will mean for global meetings and incentives if the virus keeps spreading?
Well, seeing that we are quite early into 2020, there might still be time for cancelled meetings to be rescheduled if the spread is contained by end of Q1. In any case, the leadership at each of our all-inclusive properties is prepared to work with any meeting or incentive planner who might have to change part or all of the itinerary for one of their events. With enough lead time, we can definitely make a rescheduled event happen in calendar year 2020 so that the budget would stay the same or only have to be slightly altered to make the meeting or incentive work exactly as it was intended.
After all, we’ve dealt with act-of-God issues like this before, whether it was a storm or terrorism or something else that caused major travel disruptions. A central element of AIC Hotel Group’s service promise is to make things work well for our clients in the face of unexpected challenges. With the coronavirus, it would not be any different. Simply come to us with your event-related issue or complication, and we can start to find a solution.
I wish you and your organization good fortune in this situation, so that these things we’re talking about don’t actually come to pass. But if they do, please know that we are here to help you.
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