After a year without travel, the tourism industry is preparing for a comeback. Demand is skyrocketing for the highly anticipated summer vacation season just as the U.S. marks an important milestone: more than 100M COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed as of mid-March.<\/p>\n
But even as the world prepares to reopen following one of the most prolonged and painful interruptions to \u201cnormal life\u201d as we know it, this moment asks deeper questions than simply\u00a0will travel recover<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0when<\/em>. It asks us to reflect on what a year without has wrought on us\u2014as people.<\/p>\n It was a year without justice.<\/strong>\u00a0For George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the names we said in the movement for Black Lives Matter. For those who were killed and abused as we awaken to calls to Stop Asian Hate, trust when women say Me Too, and stand against anti-trans violence.<\/p>\n It was a year without pause.<\/strong>\u00a0From headlines, homework, work from home, and ever-present uncertainty. For frontline workers and essential workers in hospitals, classrooms, grocery stores, and airports.<\/p>\n It was a year without peace.<\/strong>\u00a0At our nation\u2019s Capitol, in the halls of congress, at polling places in Georgia and Pennsylvania, and along our Southern border, as asylum seekers arrive in pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.<\/p>\n And while not lost altogether,\u00a0it was a year too-often lacking humanity<\/strong>. From the simple benevolence of a handshake or hug to the ecstasy\u00a0of art performed, live, in front of us.<\/p>\n After a year absent of so much, we\u2019re not questioning whether travel will recover. We know it will. Even when planes were grounded and international borders were closed, we opened new doors. In our backyards and on back roads to parks and places close to home. For all the pandemic travel trends the last year created, there remains still this one truth:\u00a0The world doesn\u2019t welcome us\u2014people do.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n As we ready ourselves to travel again, we\u2019re asking not simply\u00a0Where should we go?<\/em>\u00a0but\u00a0Where do we go from here?<\/em>\u00a0Twenty years ago when we launched the first LGBTQ+ print ad encouraging travelers to \u201csee the world on your terms,\u201d we were advocating for a more welcoming world. Today, we embark on a more ambitious journey: to create a\u00a0world where everyone can travel as they are.<\/p>\n After a long year, the world is finally reopening.\u00a0Now it\u2019s up to us to make it a more welcoming place.<\/p>\n Orbitz. Travel as you are.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a year without travel, the tourism industry is preparing for a comeback. Demand is skyrocketing for the highly anticipated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":80076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2791],"tags":[2943],"class_list":["post-80066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press","tag-lgbtqia"],"acf":{"api_active":false,"api_title":"","api_excerpt":"","api_featured_image":false,"api_lob":"Hotels"},"posts_api_cpm_point":"","yoast_head":"\n\n
You. A human. In all your individuality.\u00a0<\/span>
\nUs. As humans. Not really all that different.<\/span>
\nLimiting the spaces between us.<\/span>
\nBreaking down barriers that divide us.<\/span>
\nBringing individuals and worlds closer.<\/span>
\nSo we can come together to build a better one.<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n