TRAVEL

Hitting the road: How Tennesseans are making the most of summer travel amid pandemic

Erik Bacharach
Nashville Tennessean

Brittany Hendrickson and her husband, Jack, had most of the trip planned out. They were going to spend the first week rock climbing in the Alps, then the second week eating and drinking their way through France.

And then they weren’t.

The Hendricksons’ trip to France has been waved off; British Airways canceled their flight, so they were able to get a refund. It’s been replaced by an eight-hour drive to St. George Island in Florida, the product of some impromptu planning as the couple still looks to take advantage of time off while prioritizing safety and social distancing. 

"Not ideal," Brittany, a physical therapist and avid traveler, said of canceling their France trip. "But we're making the best of the current situation.”

The Hendricksons are not alone — families across Tennessee have been forced to adjust or cancel summer trips amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The couple discussed taking a flight to Los Angeles, but decided they felt most comfortable hopping in a car. They’ve stocked up on hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes, and might even pack a cooler with lunch to avoid stopping for food.

Safety and cleanliness are on the forefront of would-be travelers' minds this summer. How safe are flights? What about hotels? What's the safest way to enjoy a summer trip in 2020 — and what are some of the riskiest?

Where the greatest risks lie

Dr. Bill Shaffner doesn’t like to use the word “safe.” In this climate, he deems it too much of an absolute.

“What we're all trying to do is keep the risk to ourselves and others to a minimum,” said Shaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

That’s a task made more difficult when flying.

Shaffner explained that COVID-19's primary mode of transmission is through close, interpersonal contact. It lives in the back of the throat, behind the nose and in the top parts of the bronchial tubes.

"So if I'm infected and I breathe out, I take some virus with me," he said. "And if you're standing close to me and breathe in, you're going to breathe in some of what I breathed out, including the virus. That's the way I will infect you."

Some airlines are strictly enforcing wearing masks during flights; others are not. Some are continuing to block middle seats; others are not.

On top of that is concern from all the risks at the airport, where large crowds are the norm.

“You're kind of exposed to the haphazard circumstance,” Shaffner said. “You're less in control of your environment than if you are in a car.”

Chikita Newsome, a Nashville native, was set to fly to Florida and Texas later this summer, but those plans have since been scrapped. Instead, she and her family are headed to Montgomery Bell State Park, located seven miles east of Dickson, to camp for the first time.

"With everything going on, it wasn't disappointing to cancel (our flights)," said Newsome. "Better safe than sorry."

What about hotels and Airbnbs?

Hotel occupancy rates across the state plummeted soon after the pandemic took hold, according to Rob Mortensen, president and CEO of the Greater Nashville Hospitality Association. In Nashville, the rate dropped to around 10%.

But things have gradually picked up since Phase One of Nashville's reopening plan went into effect in mid-May, Mortensen said. As of last week, Davidson County had reached an occupancy rate of 31.5%.

Memphis Tourism reports that the city's occupancy rate in the last week has risen 6.4% to 49.9% to lead the state's largest cities. The occupancy rate in Shelby County was slightly lower at 46.9%.

Knoxville is experiencing similar numbers. “As of YTD May 2020, occupancy is averaging 33% countywide,” a spokesperson for Visit Knoxville said in an email.

The progress and subsequent optimism is relative, of course. At this time last year, occupancy rates in Nashville were around 90%.

Still, Mortensen expects things to keep trending upward — especially as Nashville moved into Phase Three of its reopening plan Monday.

"I think everything that we're doing right now has everything to do with consumer confidence, and I think (phase three) is going to help a lot," he said. "Folks come to Nashville to listen to music, to go to the honky-tonks. And I think that's been our challenge, is that some of our stuff's just not open or open to the point where folks feel comfortable. So I think we're moving in the right direction."

From a safety standpoint, Shaffner isn’t worried about hotel rooms themselves.

"The inanimate environment — the beds, the bureaus, the bathrooms — is not an important way that this virus is being transmitted," he said. "So I'm not worried about the hotel rooms or the motel rooms. I'm a little more worried about people congregating in the lobby or in the restaurant."

Airbnb, meanwhile, has provided its hosts with access to a cleaning handbook and other educational resources. Hosts who commit to following Airbnb's cleaning protocol will receive a special call-out on their listing. Hosts also can opt into a new feature called Booking Buffer to create a longer vacancy period between stays.

Smoky Mountains a popular spot

Since the pandemic began, Airbnb has seen a trend: the percentage of its bookings within 200 miles has grown from one-third of all bookings in February to over half in May. 

So it's no surprise the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee are a popular destination this summer. In fact, Airbnb listed the Smokies at No. 4 on its list of the top 10 trending destinations in the United States, behind only California's Big Bear Lake and Florida's Miramar Beach and Panama City Beach.

It's in line with Shaffner's advice for travelers amid the pandemic: Head outdoors, where open space is conducive to social distancing.

"But be mindful," Shaffner cautioned. "When you go to get food or to a rest stop, wear your mask. And be mindful of parking lots if you’re going off on a hike or if you’re stopping at a hotel, because that’s when people tend to get casual. They forget how careful they need to be and that’s where people tend to congregate."

Making the most of it

Outdoorsy, an app that grants users access to an RV rental marketplace that is now available in 14 countries, has seen exponential growth — by more than 4,300% (measured from low point in late March to June), according to a release — during the pandemic.

More than 93% of its bookings in May and June came from first-time Outdoorsy renters. Count Kathleen Lourence among them.

Lourence, a first-grade teacher for Metro Nashville Public Schools, headed to Outdoorsy to rent an RV for the first time to explore the Midwest with her boyfriend. Lourence said she paid $2,000 to rent a Winnebago for a week. Lower gas prices help but were not a huge factor in their decision, she said.

"The RV is a way to safely travel and explore new places during COVID," she said. "We are also visiting friends and didn’t want them to feel like they had to put us up."

It's not the summer vacation Lourence and her boyfriend had envisioned after trips overseas the last few summers.

But they're making the most of things.

"Wherever we go," she said, "we make it an adventure."

Reach Erik Bacharach at ebacharach@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ErikBacharach.