In the latest “WisBusiness: The Podcast,” travel news journalist Peter Greenberg said Wisconsin lent itself well to the “one-tank trip” trend of the pandemic.
Greenberg, a respected investigative journalist and UW-Madison alumnus, explained COVID-19 has led Americans to rediscover their own country. Wisconsin tourism in particular has ramped up marketing vacations within driving distance.
“I’m a big fan of that because we take so much for granted and there’s so much in our own backyard,” said Greenberg, who currently resides in Manhattan. When travel comes back, he said people are going to be looking for great stories. “Travel is nothing without great stories and Wisconsin has so many of them.”
“The Travel Detective” said his biggest challenge during the pandemic is to get the news media, his audience and travelers to realize the important economic and political components of travel. Travel spurs one of every 10 jobs and just a year ago, it was one of every five new jobs, he said.
In the next three months, Greenberg expects more widespread vaccine distribution coupled with more reliable, rapid testing. There’s also a lot of pent-up demand for travel.
“By let’s say April 30, you’re going to see a measurable increase in domestic travel … if people will travel responsibly,” he said. “World travel is going to take a little bit longer because we’re dealing with each country acting as its own guardian, its own regulations.”
Greenberg said the development of a universally acceptable and readable document to serve as proof of vaccination will predicate travel’s recovery. He predicts that the “passport” will soon be required for grocery stores, cruise ships, movie theatres or airplanes.
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
