SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Tourism in Sacramento was booming prior to the coronavirus outbreak. Now the $3-billion-a-year industry is reeling, according to Mike Testa with Visit Sacramento.
“There were a lot of things in our tourism economy that were going well -- whether it’s conventions, music festivals, or sporting events,” Testa told ABC10.
Now that those events have halted, area hotels have gone from nearly booked to nearly empty. Some have even closed, Testa said.
The strain on the state's restaurants has been devastating, said Jot Condie of the California Restaurant Association.
“There’s a likelihood that you know 20% to 30% of the restaurants that that existed four weeks ago won’t re-open,” Condie said.
More than one-third of the states 1.4 million food service workers have been laid off or furloughed, Condie said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has not set a timeline on when the coronavirus stay-at-home orders will be lifted but he has laid out a framework for lifting those guidelines.
Even after restrictions are lifted, things are likely to look different at restaurants or other businesses, Newsom said at the Tuesday press conference.
“You may be having dinner with a waiter wearing gloves or a face mask,” Newsom said. “Dinner where the menu is disposable."
While there isn’t a clear end in sight, some believe it’s possible that restrictions will begin to lift around mid-May, said Barry Broome with the Greater Sacramento Economic Council.
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