Blog: We Need Private Sector Innovation to Re-Open Tourism
A perspective from PNWER Innovation Co-Chairs Senator Mia Costello (Alaska Senate, District K) and Nirav S. Desai (CEO, Moonbeam)
COVID-19 hit in America in March 2020 with the initial outbreak in Seattle. And it hit hard, bringing tourism and the affiliated services to a halt — from live music to entertainment venues, to cruise travel — it all stopped. And we have reopened in fits and starts with a constant risk of future shutdowns. We have endured the loss of loved ones, bankruptcy of businesses, and an upending of the way we congregate. While people are starting to travel again and we have found ways to keep the economy going, there is nothing normal about the new normal. The TPATH sectors tends to employ more minorities and women than other sectors. The slowdown in these sectors have hurt disproportionately affected these communities making reopening tourism both an economic and an equity priority.
Let’s face that after nearly two-years of knowing about the pandemic (with initial cases in China starting in November 2019), we are not going to achieve consensus on public health policy needed for an organized collective response like they achieved in Denmark, New Zealand, or Taiwan. And as a result, a lot of the burden falls on the private sector to plan for and mange risk related to this on-going crisis. Through Congregate we seek to support and accelerate addressing this burden…
