If he wanted dramatic – he got it. But probably not in the way he hoped. Donald Trump’s 30-day ban on most Europeans entering the United States seemed to heighten investors’ concerns, and did nothing to instill confidence in the travelling public, the stock market or business travellers. Neither did it make an iota of sense when airlines, cruise lines and travel and tourism corporations are struggling to maintain some semblance of normality.
Airline stocks such as Delta, Jet Blue and American Air Lines fell approximately 9% to 15% in premarket trading. In Europe, shares are down roughly 6% to 9% for airlines including Lufthansa, Air France and Ryanair.
Shares of companies in the travel sector continue to struggle amid the virus outbreak as demand weakens.
Aside from Trump’s travel ban, the industry has started to reduce flights and implement hiring freezes as it looks for ways to reduce costs. Many businesses are telling employees not to travel and major sporting events and conference are being cancelled or are proceeding with restricted access.
Disney closed its Disneyland Theme Park in California and is set to close its theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida out of an “abundance of caution” as coronavirus concerns mount in the US and around the world.
Disneyland Paris will also be closed; Disney Cruise Line will be suspended; and domestic Walt Disney Company employees are being asked to work from home.
Shares of cruise operators like Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines dropped about 10% to 12% before the US market opens, while stocks for hotel companies declined about 5% to 10%.
Did Trump talk about increased testing, medical advancements or make any attempt to ease the fears of an alarmed citizenry. He did not. As always, he shifted blame “a foreign virus” and heaped praise upon himself, “It only matters how you respond, and we are responding with great speed and professionalism. Our team is the best anywhere in the world.”
He emphasized, “And taking early intense action, we have seen dramatically fewer cases of the virus in the United States than are now present in Europe.”
Two issues here – no “early intense action” was taken. Just two weeks ago, Trump was calling coronavirus a “Democratic Hoax”, and predicting it would miraculously disappear. So far about 11,079 tests have been given. Because some people have to be tested multiple times – that’s probably around 8,000 US citizens tested.
By contrast, South Korea has tested more than 210,000 people and is testing nearly 20,000 people every day, while in the UK, more than 29,700 people have been tested, and more than 1,000 tests are being carried out per day.
The US needs someone to speak up for travel and tourism. People are afraid, and they are getting more so. Mixed messages don’t work and that is all the public are getting. They need one voice, one message and someone to believe.