Expedia Brass Rallies Workers and 10 Other Top Digital Stories This Week
Expedia Vice Chairman Peter Kern sent a memo to employees this week to encourage them to help in away travel partners hurt by coronavirus. Expedia
Skift Take: In digital news this week, Expedia Vice Chair Peter Kern sought to rally his workforce by saying it was time to focus and help the company's travel partners suffering in the wake of coronavirus. Plus, Trip.com Group said it would likely see a 50 percent drop in first quarter revenue but offered some hope that travel was slowly recovering in China.
Bimble Raises $1.5 Million for Trip Inspiration: Travel Startup Funding This Week
Roastery Toastery is a cafe tucked into a wall next to the entrance to the Chalk Farm Tube station in northwestern London. It's an example of a place that new travel startup Bimble considers worth sharing with other travelers. Roastery Toastery
Skift Take: This week, travel startups Bimble and Pruvo announced they had raised more than $1 million each in funding, despite the coronavirus crisis. Keep hope alive.
As reports flood in from across the country of toilet-paper shortages and grocery store shelves picked clean, it’s difficult to not feel disheartened by inconsiderate neighbors. Food shortages created by panicked shoppers add more unnecessary stress for those who are especially vulnerable, like elderly, pregnant, and immunocompromised people. And then there are the people who simply can’t afford to stock up the one month’s worth of food they’ll need during shelter-in-place edicts, like service industry workers and freelancers who face shorter work hours, layoffs, and closed restaurants and bars that were once a source of their entire income. But there’s hope for humanity yet: Community-led, grassroots efforts are providing much-needed staples from fresh produce to toilet paper for people in need. One such effort is taking place just a short distance from my home, in Jersey City.
David Trotta founded Whealth Kitchen in Jersey City’s Journal Square neighborhood in 2014. Trotta has always had an eye for social outreach (he has opened up Whealth Kitchen to Jersey City’s homeless on Christmas, for instance). On March 14, Trotta came to the difficult decision to close Whealth to the public to help stymie the spread of the virus, but he couldn’t stop at closed doors to keep the virus out. He would have to find another way to use his resources not just to feed people — but to keep his restaurant in business.
“We felt the need to do something for the community that has already supported us, and given us so much,” Trotta tells me.
On March 15, Trotta posted a message to Whealth Kitchen’s Instagram page announcing that, though the cafe itself would be closing, the meal delivery service would continue. He urged anyone hoping to support Whealth by subscribing to a meal plan, then in a subsequent post wrote that his farm partners, who provide produce to the cafe, had donated food for additional meals. “If you know someone in need we will feed them, no questions asked, DM us,” he added.
Trotta launched a meal delivery service eight months ago. Now, with a curfew in place in Jersey City and most restaurants only offering delivery anyway, it seemed more important than ever to use the service not just to help keep Whealth afloat but also to help people without the resources to shop or leave home.
“People want to help,” Trotta says. “They want to give me money for food to give to people, and I have been saying why don’t you just buy a meal plan and just add in the allergy section, ‘this is a donation.’ That helps us stay in business.”
Since March 15, Trotta has been posting messages to his Instagram account encouraging service industry workers, freelancers, and anyone else afraid to spend their savings to DM him with their needs, and he’ll send over a meal kit, free of charge (he offers options like shepherd’s pie, lentil salad, chili, and veggie burgers). Before the outbreak of the virus, Trotta typically made as many as 35 orders per week. In the last two weeks, that number has increased to 50.
It might not sound like much, but it’s a life-saving measure for families facing dire straits. He’s received messages from teenagers, saying, according to Trotta, “Hey I heard I can get food from you. My mom just called because they’re cutting her hours, and the whole family is stressed out.” He’s in the midst of finding volunteer drivers to deliver meals to women who are nine-months pregnant, one in Greenpoint and another in Williamsburg, who can’t leave the house.
This project doubles the benefits to small businesses like Trotta’s: Donations feed people without the resources to buy groceries and also give Trotta a much-needed revenue stream while the cafe is shuttered. Restaurants across the country are in an alarming position: As restaurants continue to shutter in the interest of public safety, The National Restaurant Association predicts the loss of between five and seven million jobs over the next three months, putting chefs out of business when they can’t pay rent and leaving hospitality workers with no source of income with which to support themselves.
Small but impactful acts of support might be the best way individuals can keep their local restaurants afloat for the time being, and they’re popping up all over Jersey City: In downtown Paulus Hook, breakfast spot Sam A.M. sold fresh produce and toilet paper out of its storefront for one day before becoming concerned that lines would needlessly expose people to the virus. In The Heights, Italian restaurant Corto is offering pick-up and delivery of pre-made pasta kits, which include sauce and homemade pasta that families can assemble at home.
Trotta plans to keep the delivery service going for at least six months, ramping it up especially in the next three months. But he believes the situation will only worsen as people return to work, repay debt, and potentially be required to pay back rent. So far, Trotta says the response from his community has been enthusiastic. His farm partners in the Hudson Valley have eagerly donated produce like boxes of carrots and tomatoes, but charitable individuals have really stepped up to improve the lives of strangers.
“The craziest thing to me is people that started buying meal plans to support me, to support the community,” Trotta says. “People have been coming out of the woodwork with products that I can prep or products that I can give people, and I have just taken it upon myself to feed literally anybody that comes our way.”
If ever there were a time to be a couch potato without feeling guilty or unproductive, it’s now. But staying home doing nothing gets old pretty quick for those used to being active outdoors, particularly when spring has sprung and the sun is shining over your favorite local trail. But is it safe to walk, hike, bike, or go for a run during a global pandemic?
While specific situations vary, the general answer is a cautious “yes.” Simply stepping outside into the fresh air is not going to expose you or anyone else to COVID-19. That said, the two words that will inevitably come to define this period in popular culture — “social distancing” — should remain at the core of every step you take. Here we answer your questions on bicycling, walking, hiking, and running, during the age of coronavirus.
Hear us loud and clear on this one: Get on your bikes and ride. Bicycling is the best form of transportation for those who do need to move around their community while practicing social distancing. Not only will you get from point A to point B much faster than if you walked, but you’ll also avoid the temporary risks posed by public transit and rideshares. This is an especially effective way for those in urban cores to take care of general errands such as grocery shopping or a prescription pickup. UK-based Bicycle Association, a cycling advocacy group, said in a statement, “in the current extraordinary circumstances, bicycles and cycling are already playing a key role in maintaining local transport resilience in the UK, also enabling many in the UK to maintain fitness and wellbeing without risking the health of others.”
Mountain bikers can also safely use this time to explore local trails while taking necessary precautions against injury and close contact with others. It’s important to note, however, that this is not the time to take that big spring bike trip. In Moab, Utah, the country’s top mountain-biking road trip destination, the local hospital is urging visitors to stay away — going so far as to write a letter to Utah Governor Gary Herbert asking for the shuddering of non-essential businesses in an effort to temporarily deter tourism. “We’re already concerned with how we’ll meet the needs of our own community in an epidemic,” the letter states. “As a 17-bed critical access hospital, we have no ICU and minimal capability to care for critical respiratory patients.”
Answer: Keep your pedaling close to home (and avoid those six-person tandem rides) and you’re good to go.
Few activities are as beneficial to the mind as a good walk, especially during particularly stressful times. Heed this advice and get out for a stroll around your neighborhood, through the local park, or along a scenic riverfront path. If you’re feeling nervous about your personal situation or the greater world at large, a good walk may actually be just what you need. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, studies have shown that a 10-minute walk can have the same stress-reducing effect as a 45-minute workout, with the aerobic exertion actually serving to stabilize the mood and reduce mental tension. If the park up the street is full of people, opt instead for a clear sidewalk or trail.
Should you need an excuse or a dose of motivation, walking the dog is among the activities permitted even in places with the strictest isolation bans. In the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, health officer Dr. Grant Colfax told reporters at a news briefing, “You will still be able to walk your dog or go on a hike alone, or with someone you live with, or even with another person as long as you keep six feet between you.”
That said, avoid parks that tend to get crowded on a normal day. This is especially true in major cities. Now is not the time to picnic in Prospect Park, New Yorkers.
Answer: Go for a long, solo walk on an uncrowded path. It’ll do you good and provide ample time to think as, of course, you won’t be walking in groups or chatting up strangers you pass along the way.
This certainly isn’t the time to join the local running club. But as with walking or riding a bike, a solo run might be just what you need right now. Most joggers are familiar with the term “runner’s high,” referring to the endorphins released during a prolonged period of aerobic exercise. You can use this to your ultimate advantage after several days of isolation because those same endorphins are known to calm the mind and ease stress. As we mentioned above, be careful to maintain six feet between you and others as you pass them. If you live in a city and typically run a route through town, avoid doing so if it’s busy. Now’s the perfect time to mix up your routine.
Answer: Just like walking, it is safe to run as long as you keep to yourself.
Trailheads around the country are currently seeing swarms of people looking to escape the confines of their homes. Not only are hikers on crowded trails violating the sacred mantra of social distancing, but they’re also potentially creating a problem for the surrounding small towns that don’t have the medical infrastructure to handle a large crisis. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with going on a hike during the pandemic, it’s important to be mindful of potential risks. Avoid busy trailheads in favor of less-crowded routes or earlier departure times. If you get to the trailhead and the parking lot is packed, keep driving to the next one.
As we recently discussed in detail, it is not appropriate to head out of town to destination parks during the pandemic. While the National Park System is (counterproductively, in our opinion) waiving entrance fees to promote getting into nature, anyone who’s been to the Grand Canyon knows that crowds at these popular parks can resemble Disneyland even on an off-peak day. Furthermore, lodging and dining options in many outdoors-focused resort communities around the country have been temporarily shut down as a means to prevent viral spread there. Let these communities take care of themselves, while yours does the same.
Answer: Hike local trails and peaks, but now isn’t the time to visit trails or chase summits not accessible from your community. And it’s certainly not the time for a road trip to Yosemite.
Can this all change?
Answer: Yes. As the situation develops, certain places are enforcing stricter lockdowns, curfews, and “shelter-in-place” directives. Look to your local, state, and even federal governments to see what the official policies are, and recognize that they could change day-to-day. Do your part to keep the peace by following all mandated restrictions — this too shall pass, and you can always exercise indoors.
The Impact of Emerging Tech in Travel Post-Coronavirus: New Skift Research
Skift Take: There are so many technologies that can and will impact the travel industry, but it's hard to poke through all the hype and see what will fundamentally change the future of travel. We investigate four technology buckets with the largest potential.
Lastminute.com Optimistic Bookings Will Start Returning by May
An image from a recent Lastminute.com campaign. The parent company is optimistic about a bounceback in demand later this year. LM Holding
Skift Take: Given that we still don't know enough about the coronavirus, is this a case of overoptimism? Whatever happens, an online player like Lastminute.com is probably more resilient than asset-heavy travel companies.
