How hopes for travel bubbles burst: Once upon a time, Australia and New Zealand dreamed of creating what they called the “Trans-Tasman bubble” that would allow free flow between the two countries after they’d fully tackled the COVID-19 pandemic, expected to be put in place by early September. An early August outbreak in Victoria, Australia cancelled, those plans, at least for the time being.
The New York Times looks at what derailed the plans for that travel bubble as well as others, many of which are in Europe.
“Asia, too, has had its burst travel bubbles,” the newspaper reports. “Thailand had hoped to invite travelers from nearby countries with low virus rates, such as Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, to visit without requiring self-quarantines on arrival. New waves of the virus canceled those plans.”
Consumer spending grows, but more slowly: The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. saw moderate growth for consumer spending in July, up a seasonally adjusted 1.9% from June. Personal income, meanwhile, grew 0.4%, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department.
Economists said current conditions are creating a greater gulf between the haves and the have-nots.
“What we’re seeing is a dichotomy between those who are employed, and seem to be doing pretty well, and those who are not employed and are losing income,” David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., told The Journal.
How one Nashville leader hopes for a rebound: Nashville’s Convention & Visitors Corporation President and CEO Butch Spyridon said, as a market, Nashville has faced plenty of challenges—a five-year low period beginning in 1998, the Great Recession, tornadoes, floods—and while he’s eager to climb back from the coronavirus pandemic, he believes businesses and markets need to be smart about their approach, HNN’s Dana Miller reports.
Speaking during a session during the recent online Hotel Data Conference, he noted that includes taking the human consequences of the pandemic seriously.
“I apologize … if anybody doesn’t like the conversation, but masks are our only antidote right now, and we need to become huge champions of masks and social distancing. Then, we need to become the model using all of the vast, unused meeting space … to show how to do it right,” he said.
Prominent states holding back U.S. recovery: Four states that are major drivers of the U.S. economy—California, Florida, New York and Texas—have been holding back an economic bounce back for the country, even as those states are split in their overall approach to managing the ongoing pandemic, Reuters reports.
Those states account for 35% of the U.S. economy and a third of the population, but they have thus far been unable to find a magic balance that spurs economic growth and curbs the spread of the virus simultaneously.
“It’s unlikely the national economy fully recovers unless these four states do,” Oren Klachkin, lead economist at Oxford Economics, told the news agency. “A lackluster, muddling-through scenario now looks to be the most likely path,” particularly as the impact of those four spills over into neighboring states and regions.
Las Vegas hotel fined for large event sues Nevada: The Ahern Hotel and Convention Center was fined by the state of Nevada after hosting a Trump campaign event that exceeded the state’s 50-person limit on gatherings, and that property is now suing the state’s Democratic governor, Steve Sisolak, USA Today reports. The lawsuit claims “there is no rational basis for a hotel or convention center to be treated differently from restaurants and casinos, which are allowed to operate at 50% capacity.
“The lawsuit seeks to force the governor to amend the directive to allow hotels, convention centers and restaurants to host events, conferences or meetings if they meet standards under a phase of Nevada’s reopening plan,” the newspaper reports.
Compiled by Sean McCracken.