Montana travel-related businesses face COVID-19 concerns

Nearly 94% of Montana’s travel-related businesses say they have been impacted by COVID-19, according to surveys conducted in March by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana.

Surveys also found that 83% of Montana residents and visitors to the state are concerned about their personal health.

The ITRR business survey found that cancellations happened to 83% of participating businesses during the last two weeks of March. April cancellations hit 84% of these businesses, with accommodations and outfitter/guides receiving the highest number.

Spring is typically the time for bookings for hotel reservations or campground reservations, respondents reported that travelers are holding back for the near future.

In the last half of March, when COVID-19 was spreading across the country, of the businesses that said they had received future bookings, 63% reported zero bookings made for April. Sixty-one percent had zero bookings made for May, 49% had zero bookings made for June, and 21% said they had zero bookings made for July and beyond.

“The good news in this data is that at least the zero-booking numbers are going down as time goes forward,” ITRR Director Norma Nickerson said. “It appears travelers aren’t giving up just yet. Some are still booking for the summer.”

However, in the last two weeks of March, another sign of the concerned traveler is showing up in decreased inquiries to businesses in Montana. Ninety-one percent of the accommodation sector reported their inquiries were down, followed by 87% of outfitters and guides.

“Basically, by the middle of March, the phones just stopped ringing,” said one survey respondent.

Other data show that 66% of tourism-related businesses have temporarily reduced their workforce, and 57% have temporarily closed some or part of their business.

Respondents were asked if they would permanently close their business due to COVID-19. Seventy-nine percent disagreed with that statement, 18% neither agreed nor disagreed, and 3% reported that they would close. That included eight hotels, five outfitter/guides, eight tourism service businesses and two tourism support service businesses.

“It’s a wait-and-see game for many,” Nickerson said.

Of those businesses surveyed, 26% of respondents represented accommodations, 24% represented the outfitter/guide business, 26% represented tourism service businesses, and 25% represented tourism support services.

The ITRR traveler survey, conducted in a two-week interval of March 11-14 and March 25-27, shows changes in sentiment.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents representing Montana residents and previous visitors indicated they initially were at least somewhat concerned about their own health. That number jumped to 83% in the second survey.

Meanwhile, 71% initially indicated concern for the health of their community, and later 92% expressed such. Concern by these respondents is not limited to health. In early March, 42% of travelers and 36% of Montanans expressed extreme concern over the economy. Then at the end of March, those extremely concerned levels rose to 68% and 61% respectively.

“Concerns about both one’s own health, broad mandates to stay at home and the future health of the economy are likely to impact travel decisions,” said ITRR Associate Director Jeremy Sage. “To measure the current sentiment and changes to booked and planned travel, ITRR asked respondents to indicate changes to their upcoming plans.”

Before reports of the outbreak in the U.S., two-thirds of both Montanans and non-Montana residents surveyed had already booked trips — including flights, hotels or special events more than 50 miles from home.

In the first round of surveys, only 3% of booked trips to Montana were being canceled. This has risen starkly in two and a half weeks, where later 37% of booked trips that were scheduled in the spring and summer have been canceled and another 36% are actively being considered to be canceled.

“As high as these values are, they do paint a better picture than the rest of the U.S.,” Sage said. “To all other domestic locations, 54% of booked trips are getting canceled by this group, and another 32% are considering cancellation.”

In an effort to track the growing impacts of the coronavirus, ITRR says it plans to continue surveying Montanans, previous Montana visitors and Montana travel-related businesses about their perceptions of the virus outbreak and how it has impacted their travel plans.

For a review of the business survey visit https://bit.ly/39zEFVT. For a review of the traveler survey visit https://bit.ly/2JEbbMe. All information and reports published by ITRR are available online at http://www.itrr.umt.edu.