Disney Expert Said Disney Springs Will Set Benchmark For the Opening of the Theme Parks
Tomorrow is the big day Disney friends! Disney Springs will be officially opening to visitors on May 20th and its more than just a chance to go shopping again. Experts in the Travel and Tourism field have been vocal about this being a trial run for how Disney will handle opening the theme parks stateside.
Dr Alan Fyall Rosen College Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Rosen College of Hospitality Management had this to say, “Whatever Disney does, others will do to varying degrees because of resources, but essentially it is the benchmark.”
In an interview with Bay News 9, Fyall said, “They will just watch very, very carefully to how people respond, how they dine, how they above, and above all are they enjoying themselves.”
As we spoke about in an article earlier this morning, consumer confidence is crucial during the pandemic. Fyall agrees saying, “It’s not so much when you open, it’s how confident people are to actually come out.” He adds that its the smaller theme parks that will fare better when open, “I think a lot of people will actually opt for the slightly smaller option in the early days,” Dr. Fyall said.
So what does the reopening mean for the thousands of employees that were furloughed during the shutdown? Dr. Fyall remains optimistic that a large percentage of the workers will return. However, with new policies and procedures put in place, not all workers may have a job given changes to the way business will operate going forward.
Bay News 9 spoke to a furloughed third-party Disney Springs employee who is just now able to receive unemployment after two months of waiting. She told News 9 that it was only recently that her status was shifted from ineligible to eligible. Though her business has yet to announce reopening plans she does say that she’s hopeful for the reopening of Disney Springs, “It’ll be interesting to see how many people are actually utilizing that area,” Zulia said.
So will Disney executives as well as other tourism-focused businesses across the country. It’s a development that we’ll be following closely over the next few days! Readers are encouraged to keep following along for the latest news and updates!
Source: Bay News 9