Question of the Day: Will Ebola Impact Park City Tourism?

We received a message from a citizen today asking whether we thought Ebola would impact Park City tourism. We don’t think Ebola will but we wouldn’t be surprised if EBOLA FEAR does. The CDC has requested an interview with 132 passengers who flew on a flight with a nurse (that hasn’t tested positive) but who treated the Dallas Ebola patient who died. This, combined with all the other media (over) coverage that sinks into people’s minds could make people be less likely to book trips right now.

Even we have some business trips planned and aren’t that excited about hopping on a plane. We wouldn’t be surprised if people postpone their early season trips and wait until Spring to see if this all blows over. It’s not too hard to imagine a family in New Jersey not wanting to get on a plane at Christmas time.

About the only comparison we have is the SARS epidemic from 2003. Air travel was down about 10 percent in the US.

So, who really knows… but if things continue down this path, it will likely at least shift when visitors come this year.