Disneyland as a vaccination site? Airports as test centers? The travel industry pitches in

Five months ago, San Francisco International Airport opened the first airport rapid coronavirus testing site in the United States. Nine months ago, some of the world’s most luxurious hotels, including Claridge's in London and the Four Seasons in New York, began housing front-line doctors and nurses. And now another entity in the travel world is performing its own pandemic shift: Disneyland. This week the Anaheim, California, theme park began serving as a vaccination supersite.

The coronavirus, which has killed more than 384,000 Americans and infected millions more, has brought the travel industry to its knees. The US Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the country, estimates that nearly 40% of all travel jobs have been eliminated since the virus took hold in March. But with hotels at record-low occupancy, some airports running on skeleton crews and fairgrounds emptied of guests, many domestic travel companies and operators have begun donating their resources and newly vacant spaces to help get the pandemic under control.

Disneyland has been shuttered since mid-March, but on Wednesday, a section of its Toy Story parking lot was full. Emergency medical workers and local residents over the age of 75 queued for the first of five Orange County, California, “Super POD” (Point Of Dispensing) sites, and Andrew Do, chairman of Orange County’s board of supervisors, says they will soon be able to inoculate 7,000 people a day there.

“There’s no better place to have our first Super POD than right here at Disneyland, a travel destination for people around the world,” Do said at a news conference.

The site, currently only accepting residents in phase 1a — which includes front-line health care workers, paramedics and pharmacists — is being run by the county, but in addition to providing space, Walt Disney Co. is providing some staffing assistance. (There have been lines, and officials at the site warned of future shortages, however; California this week loosened some restrictions on vaccine eligibility in a bid to speed up the state’s sluggish vaccine rollout.)

“Disneyland Resort is proud to help support Orange County and the City of Anaheim with the use of our parking lot,” said Dr. Pamela Hymel, Disney Parks’ chief medical officer. “After a year in which so many in our community have faced unprecedented hardship and uncertainty, there is now reason for optimism.”

Unlike its sister resort in California, Florida’s Disney World reopened to guests in July. And it, too, is considering opening an on-site vaccine distribution center in the near future, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Other Parts of the Travel Industry Are Helping Too

Many corners of the travel industry are looking for a way to pitch in to help end the pandemic.

More than a dozen US airports now double as virus testing sites, including Chicago O’Hare and Chicago Midway, Los Angeles International, Tampa, Newark and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Inside many terminals, XpresSpa has pivoted from offering airport massages and manicures to rapid coronavirus tests.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, has been closed to guests since March; in December, it lent one of its ultracold freezers to a hospital in nearby Salinas; the freezer can maintain a temperature of minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, which is required to safely store some coronavirus vaccines.

In the early weeks of the pandemic, the State Fair of West Virginia signed an agreement with the Greenbrier County Health Department, pledging the use of its facilities for testing, vaccination and even a surge hospital, if needed. Closed in 2020, the grounds have since been the site of three free drive-through testing clinics and are now operating as a vaccination center for local residents.

Many of the Orange County residents who get their vaccine jabs at Disneyland will have gone for coronavirus testing at the Anaheim Convention Center, which, like convention centers across the country, saw traffic screech to a halt in March. Jay Burress, president and CEO of Visit Anaheim, estimates the freeze cost the city $1.9 billion in lost revenue. He responded by donating unused supplies to local nonprofits. In July, the convention center parking lot was converted into a mass testing site.

“How do we reopen safely? That’s been our goal all along,” said Burress. “To market our destination, either as a leisure destination or a convention destination when hotels aren’t even open for leisure travel, is spinning your wheels.”

Sharon Decker is president of North Carolina’s Tryon Resort, which includes 250 rooms and an equestrian center, as well as a 300,000-square-foot indoor arena, on 1,600 acres in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She wasn’t surprised in October when Polk County, North Carolina, officials reached out to see if she would be willing to donate that arena as a vaccination site, although she knew it would present logistical challenges. The site opened in mid-December.

“We forged a real partnership with public health officials,” she said. “It had to be true public-private partnership to pull this off. But when you have shared goals, for a healthy economy and healthy businesses, you can figure it out.”

‘The Business Sector Needs to Have a Seat at the Table’

Public-private partnerships will be key to getting the United States out of the pandemic, said Steven Pedigo, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and an expert in urban economic development.

“There are only a few entities that understand mass logistics. One is the military, and the other is the private sector,” he said. “The business sector needs to have a seat at the table to talk about how we respond comprehensively, to ensure we are building a strategy around the pandemic that isn’t just prioritizing public health but is also keeping the economy up and running.”

Pedigo said that when it comes to a large-scale mobilization effort like nationwide vaccination, the travel industry is well qualified.

“This is what they do — they move people, and they move large amounts of goods and services,” he said. “They’re in the business of crowd control. So it makes sense to do this at a Disney World or an Alamodome. They have the expertise for it.”