It’s Omicron’s turn to capsize buoyant predictions and plans of recent months — or is it?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the first cases of the new variant in the U.S. in the first week of December. Some are holding their breath and expecting the worst, while a growing chorus of voices say we’re better prepared this time around.
It’s not an ideal situation, clearly, but much of the world is open for business despite it.
Departing from the dire warnings we’ve come to expect, during a White House briefing in late November as Omicron news spread, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said, “To be crystal clear — we have far more tools to fight the variant than we had at this time last year.”
Much the same can be said of businesses. After nigh on two years of fast footwork implementing digital solutions, many businesses have adopted elaborate work-from-home and hybrid work arrangements, video collaboration tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams are ubiquitous, and merchants online and off have cleverly adapted.
Travel and hospitality appear to be most affected, with Reuters reporting that “Fitch Ratings has lowered its global passenger traffic forecasts for 2021 and 2022, saying the emergence of new variants like Omicron highlight the likelihood that conditions would remain volatile for airlines.”
While booking cancellations are bad, refunds threw the sector for a loop in 2020. That’s been substantially eased as innovation makes refunds less of a hassle and more of an experience.
The new PYMNTS study, “Merchant Refund Policies: Keeping Travel and Entertainment on Track,” a Fortis collaboration, found that “nearly one-third of the United States population booked hotel rooms or reserved tickets for attractions or events in 2021, with over half — some 60 million consumers — later canceling and wanting refunds.”
However, “70% of consumers who canceled bookings with attractions and received a full refund say they are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ likely to use them in the next year. Refunds for events are even more important to consumers, as 76% of respondents who received full refunds for events say they are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ likely to attend them in the next year.”
It’s music to the ears of airlines, hotels and venues whose revamped refund policies are effectively securing those booking downstream by improving the customer experience now.
This is especially important in nations like the U.K., where Omicron has renewed restrictions. But news site Pollstar quoted Greg Parmley, CEO of UK industry association LIVE, as saying that “across the country, music venues and events already have tried, tested and workable systems in place to ensure that live events continue to be safe – and that these remain effective.”
Get the study: Merchant Refund Policies: Keeping Travel and Entertainment on Track
Also ravaged by pandemic disruptions, the restaurant sector is a case study in digital adaptation during a perfect storm of disruption, from lockdowns in 2020 to staff shortages entering 2022.
According to PYMNTS’ Restaurant Readiness Index 2021, a Paytronix collaboration, 69% of all restaurants “are confident that their 2021 revenues will either be on par with or even exceed the revenues they generated two years ago,” and 42% foresee revenues increasing over 2019.
“It is therefore clear that although [these] months have radically changed the dynamics of the industry, many restaurants feel they have managed to successfully transform their business models to meet the demands of this new, post-pandemic economy,” it states.
Get the study: Restaurant Readiness Index 2021
As PYMNTS recently reported, “Only days into the Omicron variant discovery, it’s impossible to say whether more profound effects will be felt as heavy seasonal shopping happens over the next two to three weeks. However, the U.S. and other major economies appear to be well-positioned for another COVID holiday should it come to that, as evidenced by the strength of Black Friday online sales.”
Per a PYMNTS survey taken Nov. 26-27, 65% of 143 million U.S. consumers with gifting plans made at least one Black Friday purchase, with online attracting 13% more shoppers than stores.
See also: Omicron Variant Fails to Darken Black Friday Selling as Some Restrictions Return
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