Orlando's tourism industry may be queued up for an even rougher ride, despite already preparing to be without its major theme parks for more than two weeks.
That's because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that all events of more than 50 people be canceled or postponed for at least eight weeks. This is the latest effort by the agency to try to stave off the rapid spreading of the coronavirus, which has affected more than 168,000 people worldwide and 4,108 in the U.S. Florida has 137 cases, including 13 in the four-county Central Florida area. The death count is 6,610 worldwide, 71 in the U.S. and four in Florida.
An eight-week window is a big increase to the time the region would be without its major theme parks. That could cost billions of dollars in lost economic impact for the region, affecting local hotels, restaurants, smaller attractions, shops, rental car companies, taxi drivers, the airport and more.
Walt Disney World (NYSE: DIS), Comcast Corp.-owned (Nasdaq: CMCSA) Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando (NYSE: SEAS), Legoland Florida and Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex all announced closures starting March 16, with many staying closed through the end of the month and others not providing a date to reopen. Disney also halted its cruise line operations and announced plans to shutter its local hotels and shops.
That timeline would put the theme parks reopening sometime by mid-May. Executives with the theme parks were not available for comment.
Unfortunately, the CDC's recommendation most likely will impact the theme parks' plans, said Dennis Speigel, founder and CEO with International Theme Park Services, a Cincinnati-based theme park consulting firm. "The timeframe has risen exponentially, and we are still in uncharted water. Operators like Disney, Universal and Six Flags have no idea now. The short term was closing two to three weeks, but now it will be extended indefinitely," he told Orlando Business Journal.
Speigel said the more likely scenario right now is to expect theme parks to plan for a big opening by Memorial Day in late May. That means it's almost guaranteed the region could miss out on the spring breaks and any early summer travel.
However, the region still has tourism-related businesses open, Visit Orlando President and CEO George Aguel told Orange County's Tourist Development Council, during a March 13 meeting. Those businesses are made up of smaller attractions, restaurants and nightlife entertainment on International Drive and more that still could entertain tourists.
On March 16, Aguel told OBJ that it's too early to judge the impact the CDC's recommendation will have on the region. "Each individual business is deciding how to navigate this new guidance. We are monitoring this situation closely in order to communicate information to visitors as these decisions are made."
The Central Florida tourism industry is a $75.2 billion economic engine that serves more than 75 million annual visitors. The industry also employs hundreds of thousands of local direct and indirect workers.