According to data from guest WiFi company Purple, foot traffic across North American industries fell 78 percent in the first half of March due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The company’s data scientists constructed visual models of the impact that coronavirus has had in regions around the world, pulling from its 155 million users in over 185 countries. Purple has developed a live dashboard to track the real-time impact COVID-19 on industries globally.
The hotel industry is among those that have been hit the hardest. Demand has dropped significantly as a result of cancellations of major sporting events, concerts, and a large portion of the workforce working from home and suspending travel. Purple’s data reflects COVID-19’s timeline of events as March progresses. With the majority of cities and workers in isolation, the data shows a 77 percent decrease in hotel foot traffic across North America, and a particularly steep decline after March 15. The below figure shows the decline in foot traffic across North American hotels through the first half of March.
