25 Ways the Travel Industry is Helping During the Pandemic

by Alex Temblador
Last updated:: 12:22 PM ET, Thu April 2, 2020

Commercial airplane flying over big city at dusk. (photo via guvendemir/iStock/Getty Images)

A healthy children's lunch. (photo via iStock / Getty Images Plus / serezniy) (iStock / Getty Images Plus / serezniy)

PHOTO: Airbnb logo on a smart phone screen. (photo via Pixabay)

PHOTO: American Airlines Boeing 737-800 taking off from Chicago O'Hare International Airport. (photo via gk-6mt/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)

PHOTO: New York - New York Hotel & Casino. (photo courtesy of MGM Resorts International)

PHOTO: Doctor wearing a surgical mask. (photo via iStock / Getty Images Plus / gpointstudio)

Delta Air Lines Boeing 767. (photo via Sjo/iStock Unreleased)

Carnival Cruise Line ships docked at PortMiami. (photo via photosvit/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)

Samsara Luggage are donating their Essentials by Samsara kits to medical professionals. (photo via Samsara Luggage)

Caesars Entertainment donates 250,000 pounds of food during the pandemic. (photo via Caesars Entertainment)

Jayco Inc. donated units to medical centers. (photo via THOR Industries)

Wynn Las Vegas. (photo via tupungato / iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus)

PHOTO: A Downtown scene in Park City, Utah. (photo via bauhaus1000/iStock Unreleased)

PHOTO: Accommodations at a Red Roof Inn Red Collection property. (photo courtesy of Red Roof Inn)

Meadow in Rocky Mountain National Park. (photo via juliannafunk / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

PHOTO: Single-use plastic bags. (iStock / Getty Images Plus/Lengar79)

PHOTO: The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. (photo by Kim Banocy)

PHOTO: A Hertz car rental office. (photo via Pe3check/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)

PHOTO: A man shopping at the grocery store. (photo via Ridofranz/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

A woman speaks to her Uber driver before getting in the car. (photo via Uber)

Hilton Omaha (Photo via Hilton)

The Venetian and Palazzo in Las Vegas, Nevada. (photo courtesy of The Venetian)

United Airlines flight arriving at airport. (photo via gk-6mt/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)

Marriott International Hotels - Sheraton Waikiki #MarriottStrong (Marriott International Hotels - Sheraton Waikiki #MarriottStrong)

Marriott Hotel. (photo via tupungato / iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus)

PHOTO: Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown. (photo courtesy of Four Seasons) (Four Seasons, Christian Horan)

Feeling the travel love

1/26

The travel industry knows the power of bringing people together, and they're doing just that during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as travel companies suffer losses in revenue, many are still doing their part to help local governments, communities, and health professionals fight this outbreak. From donations to helpful policies, here are the most phenomenal ways the travel industry is doing their part in this fight.

Hotels donate free lunches to kids

2/26

With schools shut down, many students who relied on free or reduced lunches are now without those resources. Ocean House Management Collection, which operates Ocean House, Weekapaug Inn, Watch Hill Inn, and the Inn at Hastings Park, has set up a food truck in Westerly, Rhode Island, to provide free lunch to local kids 16 and under on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

On the same note, Hampton Inn by Hilton Fort Stockton, in Texas, is providing free bagged breakfasts to local children.

Free housing for medical professionals

3/26

With the pandemic underway, hotels are empty making them the perfect place to shelter first responders, medical personnel, and even hospital overflow. Many individual hotels, especially those close to hospitals, have opened their doors to the medical community, offering free stays to doctors and health professionals or to asymptomatic patients needing to quarantine.

Airbnb has a global initiative to offer free or subsidized housing to healthcare professionals, with the goal of servicing 100,000 workers. Similarly, Oyo Hotels & Homes is offering free stays to all medical personal who are fighting COVID-19. Domio, an apartment-hotel hospitality company, is doing the same for those in Nashville, Miami, and Chicago.

Airlines waive cancellation and change fees

4/26

Many travelers had to cancel their vacation plans when the pandemic hit and airlines have done quite a bit to help their customers during this time. For instance, American Airlines has extended its change fee waiver to May. Other airlines like JetBlue and Alaska Airlines are providing travel credits to those who cancel their flights which can be used on future travel.

MGM Resorts donates $1 million to employee emergency fund

5/26

Hotel-giant, MGM Resorts International has pledged $1 million toward their Employee Emergency Fund. The fund will go toward providing employees and their families who have been impacted by the coronavirus, such as through furlough or layoffs, with short-term monetary relief.

Plus, MGM Resorts International donated 400,000 meals or 480,000 pounds of food to communities in which their properties operate.

Trip.com has 1 million surgical mask donation initiative

6/26

Trip.com, an online travel service provider, is working to donate 1 million surgical masks. The initiative is being led by Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, James Liang who has already worked to donate masks to Italy, Korea, Japan, the U.S., Canada, Germany, Serbia, France, U.K., and Australia.

Most recently, Trip.com created a COVID-19 International Traveler's Guide, which will provide tools, information, and news related to the coronavirus and the regulations, safety, and policies in destinations around the world. With this guide, travelers can make smart and safe travel choices if they must travel now or in the near future.

Delta and Jet Blue offer free flights to medical volunteers

7/26

Delta and JetBlue are doing their part to get medical volunteers where they need to go. JetBlue is using its empty planes to shuttle medical volunteers to New York State for free. Delta also announced that its offering free flights to medical volunteers to Georgia, Louisiana, and Michigan in April.

Carnival offers their fleet as temporary hospitals

8/26

Carnival Corporation has offered local governments their fleet as temporary hospitals for non-COVID patients or COVID-19 patients. The ships would dock near land and crew members would help oversee food, cleaning, and provide other assistance as needed. Carnival's fleet is equipped with about 1,000 rooms each, plus on-site hospitals and medical equipment.

Samsara Luggage donates COVID-19 safety kit to medical professionals

9/26

Samsara Luggage may usually produce luggage but with the pandemic underway, they're now offering an Essentials by Samsara Kit. Equipped with a reusable mask with a filter, sanitizing gel, four sanitizing pads, and three pairs of disposable gloves, customers can buy the kits on their website for $19.50 (or it comes free with a luggage purchase). Better yet? Samsara Luggage is donating kits to charities who will put them in the hands of healthcare workers.

Caesars Entertainment donates 250,000 pounds of food

10/26

Caesars Entertainment has donated 250,000 pounds of food (which is approximately 208,000 meals) to food banks and charities, as well as gloves, masks, and sanitizers to medical centers. Food not suitable for human consumption was donated to animal rescues in need like The Funny Farm in New Jersey.

RV leader donates supplies and units to medical centers

11/26

With hospitals facing the challenge of finding space for COVID-19 testing, THOR Industries, which represents the world's largest manufacturer of RVs, has stepped up. They own such companies as The Motor Coach, Airstream, and Keystone RV Company, all of which are donating in major ways.

THOR's Airstream Inc. has donated two NEST travel trailers for the Wilson Health medical team in Shelby, Ohio, for a drive-thru testing facility. Jayco Inc. donated two Seismic 4125 toy haulers to healthcare facilities in Indiana and one trailer to a fire department for quarantine space for firefighters. THOR's other four subsidiaries have raised funds and donated medical supplies to various communities.

Wynn Resorts donates $2.5 million supplies to hospitals, nursing homes, and food banks

12/26

Wynn Resorts is donating $2.5 million worth of goods to those in need in their community. This has included 240,000 N95-equivalent CDC approved respirator masks, 600,000 surgical masks, 500,000 medical gloves, and thousands of medical gowns to hospitals in Las Vegas. They've also donated gloves and masks to nursing homes and law enforcement.

One-hundred and seventy-five pallets of food were given to 18 food banks on Wynn Resorts' behalf, while $100,000 was donated to the Three Square food bank in Las Vegas and $25,000 to Bread of Life food bank in Boston.

Vail Resorts CEO donates $2.5 million to support employees and mountain communities

13/26

Vail Resorts' CEO Rob Katz, and his wife, Elana Amsterdam are donating $2.5 million to support Vail Resorts employees and the mountain towns where the company's properties are based. Of the $2.5 million, $1.5 million will go to emergency relief grants to local organizations in towns like Park City, Utah, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Lake Tahoe, California.

The remaining $1 million will be used to create a new employee fund within Vail Resorts' Epic Promise Employee Foundation. The money will go toward helping employees who have experienced setbacks due to COVID-19.

Red Roof Inn helps students and workers

14/26

Red Roof Inn is helping in some creative ways. The hotel company launched a Student Support Program to help college students displaced by the outbreak and the closing of universities. The program offers college students a 30 percent discount and those who stay more than 7 days will receive a $25 Amazon gift card to purchase essential items.

That's not all. Red Roof Inn is now offering a "Work Under Our Roof" day rate to employees who have to work from home and may not have the space to do so. At about $29, people can book a day rate Monday-Friday from 8 am-6 pm and work in a hotel room. Workers will receive free Wi-Fi, free local and long-distance calls, fax, workstations, and free in-room coffee. They'll even let you bring your cat or dog along!

Virtual tours to keep us sane

15/26

Quarantine is not the easiest thing for wanderlust travelers and the travel industry understands that. Many tourism boards have launched virtual tours of their city or of the best attractions. Museums around the world are giving people up-close looks at their collections online. Even national parks are accomodating those who can't get out and hike with virtual experiences.

Free food for travel employees out of work

16/26

Many travel companies have had to lay off their workforce, leaving thousands without work and finances to cover their needs. That's why it warms our hearts to see that The Line D.C. has converted its lobby into a place where hospitality workers who have lost their jobs can pick up free bags of groceries from Friends & Family Meal, an organization that collects food from restaurants and overstock from suppliers.

The Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky, is doing the same for hourly workers experiencing shift reductions. Rosewood CordeValle is making sure their out-of-work staffers can pick up eggs, milk, toilet paper, and essentials at the front gate, and Grand Hyatt Vail created 200 packages of food and supplies for their impacted employees.

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-the-travel-industry-is-helping-amid-coronavirus

Yelp pledges $25 million to independent businesses

17/26

Travelers use Yelp to look up reviews of restaurants and bars all over the world, but with the outbreak, some of these businesses have had to shutter or lay off workers amid revenue losses. So Yelp is pledging $25 million to independent restaurants and bars and the funds will go toward waiving ad fees for businesses, $100 advertising credits for restaurants offering takeout and delivery, and a variety of free access to other Yelp marketing services. Restaurants and bars available for this assistance must be located in the U.S., Canada, Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico and have less than five locations.

In a similar fashion, Airbnb will be putting $250 million toward hosts who have suffered cancellations due to the pandemic.

Hertz offers free rentals to NYC healthcare workers

18/26

Hertz is offering New York City healthcare workers free vehicle rentals through April 30, 2020. This allows healthcare workers to get to and from areas of need without using public transportation, which could put them or others at risk. The car rental company is also working with the Mount Sinai Health System to make vehicles available to their employees throughout NYC and is providing free cargo van rentals to transport ventilators and medical supplies within the city.

Hotel staff are grocery shopping for those in need

19/26

The Hari in London has started a unique service to help those in need. They'll do grocery, pharmacy, and post office runs for those who need it, especially the elderly or disabled. To request assistance, they've asked followers to send them a message on Instagram or email them at [email protected].

Lyft and Uber protect their drivers

20/26

Lyft and Uber drivers are seeing a decrease in riders due to the outbreak, and yet, the companies are doing all they can to assist their drivers. Both companies claim they'll compensate drivers diagnosed with COVID-19 who must stop driving to quarantine. Lyft has also partnered with EO Products to distribute 200,000 free bottles of hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies to their drivers and is working with local agencies to provide drivers more opportunities for work like delivering groceries or medical supplies.

Just as Lyft is offering free rides to food industry and medical workers, so is Uber. For customers, Uber has waived delivery fees for more than 100,000 independent restaurants in the U.S. The car-sharing company is also providing free meals to healthcare workers and hauling critical goods to places that need it with Uber Freight.

Hilton gives employees expedited access to temporary jobs

21/26

Hilton has had to furlough many employees during this crisis, but they're doing all they can to assist them. Most importantly, all furloughed team members will keep their health benefits.

The company is also assisting their team members in search of temporary jobs through the Hilton Workforce Resource Center. These employees will have direct, and sometimes expedited, access to 500,000 temporary jobs with companies like Amazon, CVS, and Walgreens. For Hilton employees or their family members who have contracted COVID-19 and need relief, the Hilton Team Member Assistance Fund will offer monetary assistance.

Las Vegas Sands to donate 2 million pieces of protective equipment

22/26

Las Vegas Sands has joined many other Las Vegas hotel and entertainment companies in the fight by pledging to donate 2 million medical masks. Half will be allocated to Nevada and the other half to New York. Additionally, Las Vegas Sands is providing 20,000 protective suits to healthcare workers, first responders, and nonprofits in Nevada.

United donated ad space to UNICEF

23/26

United Airlines donated its advertising space to UNICEF so they can spread more awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline company had planned to launch spring campaigns around March 15, 2020, but due to the outbreak, they thought it best to utilize their media space in a more positive way. UNICEF will receive almost $100,000 worth of outdoor advertising spaces from United Airlines.

Hotels are lighting up with positive messages

24/26

Hotels have been sending out positive vibes by lighting up their properties. For instance, many Marriott properties are lighting up their empty rooms in the shape of a heart. Similarly, Study Hotels, like The Study at Yale in New Haven, and The Study at University City in Philadelphia, lit up their hotel with a medical cross to stand in solidarity with the brave health professionals.

Donate points to charities

25/26

Travel companies have made it easier than ever to allow travelers to donate their points to nonprofits who are doling out aid amidst the crisis. Hilton Honors members can donate points, which will be turned into cash, to World Central Kitchen, Clean the World, Project Hope or Direct Relief.

Marriott's donation platform is entirely focused on COVID-19 relief and lets users donate their Bonvoy points to a variety of nonprofits like World Central Kitchen, Unicef, the American Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross. Lastly, American Airlines will give AAdvantage members 10 miles for every dollar donated to the Red Cross (with a $25 minimum donation).

AHLA's Hospitality for Hope Initiative

26/26

The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) created the Hospitality for Hope Initiative in direct response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The initiative aims to connect hotel properties with the health communities, whether it's to provide housing to medical professionals or quarantine areas for patients.

AHLA is working with the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services to create a database where government officials can search for helping hotels in their area. Currently, 13,700 properties nationwide located near healthcare facilities are ready to do their part in helping their communities.

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