COVID-19 may cause issues for far more than just the cruise industry and the White Pass. It is hoped that much like the flu, the arrival of spring and warmer weather may diminish the health effects. So far, from what I can gather on the news, the flu is far more prevalent and kills more people annually, but COVID-19 is thought to be 40 more times contagious and have a much higher fatality rate than the flu, and you might be a carrier without having obvious symptoms. Bottom line is because it is so new that much of this is speculation.
Best case scenario is that COVID-19 quickly fades out due to containment efforts and warmer weather. Worst case scenario is that it continues to spread. Even if drastic measures aren't put into place to contain it, panic may basically result in the same thing for the tourist, sports and entertainment venues as well as travel services - especially those substantially relying on foreign or senior customers. Don't believe there is panic already - go to the store and try to buy toilet paper now! Walmart in Ontario, Oregon was cleaned out Saturday when I was there, and heard that Evergreen, CO was also; yet there hasn't been any interruption or restriction in the supply chain. NE Oregon has seen one reported case.
If COVID-19 can be largely contained to certain regions, there may be an opportunity for certain recreational/historical rail operations to re-target their marketing more towards potential visitors from nearby unaffected regions. The only good news is that the price of petroleum for both visitors and operators may be substantially less.
This could be a very rough summer season - and we still have to suffer through all the political and election BS regardless of what COVID-19 and the economy does, which may drive most of us crazy (or crazier) anyway. We're doing fine in NE Oregon for snowpack (just over 100% in the Blue Mountains last I heard), but I've heard other places in the west are going to get hit hard with drought conditions again unless there is a March miracle.
