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COVID-19 is putting a halt to travel plans

The hotel business in San Angelo is left in limbo because of COVID-19.

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Everyone enjoys a nice vacation and the idea of getting away from the stresses of the world.

Being able to stay at a hotel and not having to worry about your home life for a few days.

Because of the spread of COVID-19, travel plans have been put on pause for everyone. With less people traveling, it means less people staying in hotels and less funds for the community.

According to San Angelo Vice President of Convention and Visitors Bureau Diann Bayes she says the city is no exception.

"There have been tears from me," Bayes said. "We feel for the those who are not able to work at home and most people in the service industry can not."

According to Bayes, hotels fully fund the bureau of San Angelo.

Since the spread of COVID-19, hotels are staying steady, but there are still unknowns Bayes must face in the coming days.

"Our occupancy across the hotel industry in San Angelo at around 65-68% daily for the past year," Bayes said. "So we are no real sure at this point how much this will affect us."

She won’t have the exact numbers of how well hotels are doing until mid-April.

Bayes reaches out to some hotels, and while some are doing just fine, there are hotels who are struggling.

A big reason is the social distancing rule that keeps parties of people to 10 or fewer.

Which is putting stop on work meetings in San Angelo, however she is seeing the positive of meetings because they all have been rescheduled.

Bayes and the bureau are trying new ways to help engage the people through forms of social media.

She is encouraging everyone even though these are tough times to treat yourself every now and then.

"We want to encourage people if you cant go over night at a hotel buy a gift card or make a reservation later this year just for you to get away," Bayes said.

Bayes and the bureau will continue to push content on social media on things the community can continue to do. 

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