Disney World Faces Tough Future After COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic is still ongoing, but already businesses are planning what to do post COVID-19. But even for huge establishments like Disney World, recovery is going to be difficult.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Orlando theme park is going to have a difficult time recovering because of two reasons. Quoting Wall Street analyst David Miller, The Hollywood Reporter says the theme park not only has to contend with people’s hesitation of the sterility of the location but also whether airplane travel is going to be safe.
This is because Miller noted that 85 percent of the people who go to Disney World are from outside the state of Florida or even outside of the United States. Even if Disney somehow implements social distancing rules in their theme park, they have no such control over what airplanes are going to do, as it is an entirely different industry.
The airline industry itself is unsure when they recover from the pandemic. The Hollywood Reporter quotes American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, who says the airlines recovering will depend on when people will be comfortable to ride them again.
This is if theme parks even get to open this year at all. USA Today quotes analyst John Hodulik, who said that while the American government is working hard to open the economy as quickly as possible, it will probably not start out with stadiums or theme parks. As such, Hodulik predicts it will take 18 months before the government can even consider reopening those kinds of venues. This means it may take up to 2021 before Disney World can even think about reopening.
This is another blow to the Walt Disney Company, which has already had to furlough 43,000 staffers from Disney World. Executives at Disney also had their base salaries cut from 20 to 30 percent.
It does not look like Disney World or any other theme parks will be reopening anytime soon as cases of COVID-19 around the world continue to rise. According to the Apr. 26 situation report released by the World Health Organization, there are now 2,804,797 confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world, with 84,900 of those being new cases. Deaths around the world that have been caused by COVID-19 are now at 193,710, with 6,006 of those being new deaths.
As of Apr. 25, the United States now has 928,619 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fatalities in the United States caused by COVID-19 are now at 52,459 people.