VIRUS UPENDS TOURISM MARKETING, SPARKS IDEA OF 'SAFECATIONS'
The coronavirus has upended the way cities and states market themselves as summer travel destinations, and some tourism officials are just emerging from an especially awkward position: telling potential visitors to stay away.
The pandemic’s effects can be seen on promotional websites that acknowledge the new risks of travel. An Illinois site encourages people to explore the state’s natural wonders from their sofas. Virginia’s main tourism site features a mountain range with the message “We’ll be waiting for you.”
“We really had to ask ourselves, ‘When is it irresponsible to ask people to travel? What do we do as a tourism brand?’ We can’t come out and tell people to plan a trip because we have no idea when people are going to be traveling again,” said Lindsey Norment, brand director at Virginia Tourism.