Wild Adventures Builds Immersive Tiger Habitat

Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia spent the park’s offseason renovating, expanding and creating new areas for guests to enjoy during the upcoming season - including a new, immersive animal experience. The park’s existing tiger habitat has been renovated to include a new viewing area that allows guests to step into the habitat and come face-to-face with the tigers. All of this, just in time for the park’s 25th anniversary.

“One of things we’ve focused on in the past few years is setting the stage for our guests to have unique and up-close encounters with amazing creatures…Tiger Terrace is part of our commitment to providing exciting educational opportunities for our guests as well as our commitment to continue to improve and grow Wild Adventures.”

Universal Orlando Resumes Epic Universe Work

Like most other theme park-related projects, Universal’s Epic Universe construction came to a complete standstill during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was devastating news for theme park enthusiasts and Orlando natives alike, as the park promised to be the most immersive and innovative one yet creating thousands of jobs both during constructions and upon completion.

Universal Orlando has recently made the decision to restart its Epic Universe project. Now we can once again begin speculating about what Universal Orlando will bring us with their newest park.

 
 

Any thoughts? Let us know!

Disneyland, Other California Theme Parks Could Open April 1

 
 

California health officials set new rules late last week that would allow Disneyland and other theme parks, stadiums and outdoor entertainment venues to reopen as early as April. However, opening would only be permitted for venues operating in counties that are able to be removed from the “purple” tier of California’s color-coded COVID-19 restrictions. Venues operating within a red-zone tier could begin operating at 15% capacity starting April 1, while orange and yellow tiers could begin operating at 25% and 35% capacities, respectively.

While uncertain whether Anaheim will be ready to allow Disneyland to reopen on April 1, Disney executives are excited to welcome back employees and guests in the near future. Read more.

New Travel App Puts Us One Step Closer to Quarantine-Free Travel

The International Air Travel Association (IATA) will be launching its travel app next week, allowing governments and airlines to digitally collect, access and share information on the status of individual passengers’ COVID-19 test and vaccination. The tool will bring greater efficiency to health documentation checks, while speeding up the recovery of the hard-hit travel sector.

Not only will this eliminate the need to halt the travel industry further to allow for manual processing, but it could also put us one step closer to eliminating the need to quarantine before and after travel. Read more.

Voice of the Visitor 2021 Highlights

Voice of the Visitor, a partnership between PGAV Destinations and H2R Market Research, is the most comprehensive U.S. report on guest’ collective opinions, attitudes and expectations—directly generated from guest feedback.

The video below, created by PGAV Destinations, highlights this year’s research findings.

Vaccine Rollouts Continue to Fuel Travel Optimism

The latest Longwoods International tracking study revealed that roughly 80% of American travelers have established travel plans during the next six months. This increase in travel planning activity is driven by the lessening impact of COVID-19 as a factor in travel decisions and a sense of optimism fueled by the rollout of vaccines. While the pandemic impacted nearly two-thirds of travel-related decisions last April, only 40% of American travelers are indicating that the same is true today.

Furthermore, the study revealed that the COVID-19 vaccine has no impact on travel planning for nearly two-thirds of travelers, while 38% will wait for their own vaccinations to resume travel, 20% will wait until their friends and family have been vaccinated and 19% will wait until the majority of Americans have been vaccinated. Learn more.

Disneyland Expected to Remain Closed More Than One Year

 
 

Both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are expected to remain closed for more than one year, with the earliest possible reopening timeframe being late March to early April. However, Disney executives reveal that this timeframe is a best case scenario and highly unlikely, with Disney CFO Christine McCarthy expecting the parks to be closed the entirety of the second quarter. This is attributed to strict operating guidelines recently released by the state of California.

Disney Announces How Long They Expect Masks to be Required

The speed at which the COVID-19 vaccine is administered over the coming weeks will play a major role as to when Disney will be bringing its theme parks back to normal operations. Disney CEO Bob Chapek recently reported that the percentage of the public receiving the vaccine needs to increase significantly for operations to change from their pandemic status. This means that masks will likely be required of Disney World guests through the end of 2021, as well as social distancing practices and limited capacity. However, he is hopeful that 2022 will be a different story.

Disney World will remain at 35% capacity for now, but will likely make adjustments as more of the population is vaccinated throughout the year. However, Chapek does not expect Disneyland to be opening anytime soon. Read more.

Long-Haul Travel Won't Be Coming Back Anytime Soon

When COVID-19 vaccines started rolling out in December, many travelers felt optimistic about the return of travel and began browsing travel sites in hopes of an exciting 2021 adventure. However, the vaccine is no longer providing the overwhelming sense of optimism that it originally did. It is not clear whether or not the vaccines actually stop travelers from spreading the disease, and the vaccine is not proven against the more-infectious mutant strains that are emerging. For this reason, many countries are skittish about allowing international travel, even for vaccinated travelers.

Experts believe that the return of long-haul travel as it was in 2019 could be as far away as 2023 or 2024. However, it has become clear that there is a lot of pent-up travel demand, so a comeback of short-haul travel is coming shortly. Travelers may not feel comfortable traveling internationally, but they will find a way to travel in some capacity this year. Read more.

'Vaccine Tourism': Americans Cross State Lines for Injections

There are more than fifty vaccination plans across the U.S., so one’s access to the COVID-19 vaccine depends largely on where they live. This complex system has given rise to a new type of pandemic travel—vaccine tourism—in which people cross state or even country lines to get earlier access.

This new travel trend is causing a few problems, including unfair opportunity and added risk for local healthcare workers. Those who have the means and connections to travel once, or even twice, for both vaccine doses are contributing to racial and socioeconomic disparities in distribution, as vaccine recipients so far have been overwhelmingly white, residing in wealthier zip codes. Those who are not able to travel for their second dosage put healthcare workers at risk, as they are considered liable if that patient experiences an adverse event.

Without standardized protocol, tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people have gotten vaccines outside their home states. To stop this, medical workers are urging officials to implement consistent rules and priority access across state lines. Read more.

Americans Are Going to Actually Use Vacation Days Moving Forward

According to Expedia’s 2021 Vacation Deprivation study, 64% of Americans defined themselves as “vacation deprived.” Last year, 42% of survey respondents were forced to cancel at least one trip due to the pandemic and 47% used their vacation days, not for trips, but to take care of family members. This makes the saying “you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone” ring truer than ever. As 82% of respondents say they value vacation now more than ever and plan to take an extra week of vacation in 2021, employers should expect employees to be taking advantage of their vacation days more than they ever have. Read more.

The Race to Build Digital Health Passports is On

Those who have received a COVID-19 vaccination are leaving with hand-written vaccination details, a CDC tradition that dates back to the 1880s. However, patients are able to sign up to receive a digital card, one that they can store on their phones and in Apple or Google Wallets.

As of now, there is no international or national coordination on the best practices for implementing vaccine passes, so travel and entertainment companies don’t have an authority to refer to about what’s legal and what’s ethical when choosing their policies and technology. The FDA hasn’t even approved any third party companies to deliver real-time vaccination results. Until a system is implemented, many companies are in the race to create the best digital health passport. See who all is running the race here.

Pandemic Trends That Will Stick With Us Forever

  1. Actual flexible work—many offices have been offering employees the option to work remotely, but none have truly supported it until now.

  2. The end of business travel—work can get done, contracts can get signed and presentations can be given without the travel-related costs and time wasters.

  3. The hybrid office—the option to work both at home and in office is here to stay.

  4. A ‘batched’ approach to work—moving team and client meetings to one or two days to make the most of in-office time.

  5. Bit sick? You stay well away from others.

  6. More diverse opportunities—remote employees have always been at a disadvantage, but not anymore.

  7. More geographically disparate colleagues.

2020 Was the Worst Year Ever for U.S. Hotels - Here's What's Next

The U.S. hotel industry suffered its worst year on record in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic severely cripled business travel, and many Americans gave up vacations to stay at home. According to STR, hotels hit all-time lows in occupancy at 44% and surpassed 1 billion unsold room nights for the first time in history. Revenue per available room also saw record lows (-48%), and the industry is expecting to show close to zero profit for 2020 as a result.

In 2021, conditions will remain poor before they start to improve. The first half of the year is expected to look much like 2020 and Americans start to line up for vaccine shots, but the second half of the year is when a comeback will start. As pent-up demand for experiences could finally be unleashed, the industry will see a first glimpse of post-pandemic life, although not nearly enough to yank the industry out of turmoil. A full recovery for the hotel industry is not expected until 2024. Read more.

Influx of Visitors to TN State Parks Yields $1.84B Economic Impact

 
 

A record number of people paid visits to Tennessee State Parks this past year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a huge economic impact for the state. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation reported 34.7 million visits that yielded an economic impact of $1.84 billion. The report also stated that parks reached historic highs in camping, recording four of the top ten months ever, setting pace for future success with $184 million in investments in capital projects throughout the year. Read more.

New COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Disrupt Travel Plans for Many

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Late January, the CDC implemented a new travel restriction that requires travelers to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of boarding their return flight back into the U.S. Those who test positive will have to quarantine inside the country that they’re visiting for 14 days—on their own dime. This has resulted in many cancelled travel plans that have been in the works for quite some time, simply because the risk of being detained and missing out on work or school is too great. Learn more.

Financial Behaviors We Can Expect in 2021 & Beyond

Everyday life barely resembles what it did a year ago—many of us work, save and spend differently. The COVID-19 pandemic halted some financial behaviors while creating new ones.

Here are some money-oriented themes for 2021 and beyond that were created at least partly by the health crisis:

  1. Pent-up demand could lead to spending surge. As consumer confidence returns, so will spending as pent-up demand is unleashed.

  2. Saving gains could evaporate. If a spending surge materializes from pent-up demand, this will reverse the savings progress that Americans made during the pandemic.

  3. Remote working could shift spending. Investments shifted from cars to homes with employees away from the office. While some of these changes might reverse after employees return to the office, the workplace won’t revert entirely to the old status quo.

  4. The retirement divide will widen. The pandemic worsened wealth equalities, and the divide is showing up in retirement planning.

  5. Employee benefits will expand and evolve. The pandemic revealed that Americans rely heavily on their employers for much more than a paycheck—health insurance, retirement accounts, etc. This trend is likely to broaden and include more incentives even after the pandemic calms down.

Read more.

Universal Theme Parks Return to Breakeven in 2020

Comcast reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2020 earnings, reporting that its Universal Studios theme parks—excluding the new Beijing park—reached breakeven in the fourth quarter, despite the ongoing closure of Universal Studios Hollywood and reduced capacity at Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Japan.

“We are pleased with how quickly we were able to reopen Orlando and Osaka while ensuring the safety of our staff and guests,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said. “Our guests are responding as confirmed by our steadily increased attendance and our most recent financial results. What we saw this fourth quarter, especially in Orlando, gives us even more conviction of the momentum that our theme parks will experience when we reach a sustainable recovery. We may experience some near term setbacks with the most recent pickup in COVID cases, but I am optimistic as ever about the long term trajectory of this very special business."

40% of Americans Are Ready to Attend an Outdoor Sports Event

The NFL is allowing 14,500 masked fans into the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay this Sunday, plus an additional 7,500 vaccinated health care workers. Attending an in-person sports event remains controversial, and in the eyes of many Americans, too risky. While the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is changing that calculus for many, it is yet to do so for the majority.

According to the latest Seton Hall Sports Poll, 40% of U.S. adults are ready to attend an outdoor sports event once they’ve had the vaccine, which is an improvement from just 28% when the same question was asked back in November. However, when looking at sports fans specifically, 57% said that they are ready to attend outdoor sport events now. This is very promising news for upcoming seasons, as sports teams are ready to have their fans back in person, rooting them on. Read more.