Catch up on Idaho business, travel each Thursday morning

For those daydreaming about traveling, or for those concerned about how Idaho commerce and travel are being impacted by COVID-19, Idaho Tourism Virtual Coffee Talks are happening every Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

The informal 45-minute sessions feature different speakers on a number of tourism and business topics. This week's webinar was hosted by Matt Borud, marketing and innovation administrator for the Idaho Department of Commerce,

"Everybody has been feeling the pain, to a degree," Borud said Thursday. "We felt like it would be a good thing to do to get everybody together once a week."

This week's guests were Idaho Lodging and Restaurant Association executive director Pam Eaton and Idaho Department of Commerce economic development specialist Jerry Miller, who discussed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and provisions that affect tourism businesses. About 90 people tuned in.

"(Thursday) morning, the Federal Reserve took action to produce another $2.3 trillion in loans," Eaton said. This action "will actually get money to the lenders so they can get money out to folks faster."

Tourism is Idaho's third-largest industry and is responsible for generating more than $1 billion in annual wages. As of 2017, nearly 46,000 Idaho jobs were in tourism. That's one in every 18 adults.

"There’s a lot of struggle right now," Borud said. "It’s a very different situation for all businesses across all industries, but travel and tourism are going to get hit harder."

He said he recently attended a Tripadvisor webinar and learned that roughly 62 percent of people have plans to go to a restaurant as soon as closures end, and the first thing nearly half of those polled can't wait to do is travel.

"Public health and public safety come first," Borud said. "Travel is going to be very different. But we're looking at some trends that benefit Idaho.

"The sooner we get over this, everybody, whether Idaho or Utah or Oregon or Montana or Wyoming, we're ready to get back out there and have folks travel safely and travel to our great destinations like Coeur d'Alene."

Attend a webinar: bit.ly/2RqADcg