WEBVTT - The Future of Packed Tourist Towns

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and sixty three since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's main story a coastal tourist town in Spain one

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<v Speaker 1>specialized in packing beaches and nightclubs, appealing to young people

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<v Speaker 1>on a budget who piled themselves into cramped hotel rooms.

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<v Speaker 1>How does a place like that reinvent itself in the

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<v Speaker 1>age of social distancing? But first, here's what happened in

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<v Speaker 1>virus news today. Europe is facing a resurgence of coronavirus infections,

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<v Speaker 1>but the region's leaders don't have much appetite to return

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<v Speaker 1>to the stringent restrictions on movement that helped control the

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<v Speaker 1>pandemic in March and April. On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela

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<v Speaker 1>Merkel urged European leader's stork together to avoid reviving lockdowns,

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<v Speaker 1>calling instead for unified action. The uptick in cases in

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<v Speaker 1>recent weeks has been blamed on social gatherings and travelers.

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<v Speaker 1>Targeted containment measures like clamping down on nightclubs and mandating

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<v Speaker 1>masks have yet to show much of an effect. Hong

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<v Speaker 1>Kong will kick off a campaign to test its entire

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<v Speaker 1>population for the novel coronavirus on September one. It's the

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<v Speaker 1>first such effort attempted outside of mainland China. Hong Kong's

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<v Speaker 1>chief executive Carrie Lamb said the mass testing blitz will

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<v Speaker 1>last as long as two weeks and will be aided

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<v Speaker 1>by China. Unlike similar drives in the Chinese cities of

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<v Speaker 1>Wuhan and Dalian, this will be voluntary. Finally, economist Nuriel

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<v Speaker 1>Roubini said today that the global economy faces a risk

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<v Speaker 1>of a slow recovery or even another slump unless a

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<v Speaker 1>vaccine is found. Speaking on Bloomberg Television, Rubini predicted that

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<v Speaker 1>the shape of the recovery, which some predicted to be

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<v Speaker 1>a V a sharp uptick after a sharp drop, could

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<v Speaker 1>take the shape of a U or even a W.

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<v Speaker 1>He's stressed that finding a vaccine and more government stimulus

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<v Speaker 1>is necessary for a strong recovery. Rubini is famous for

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<v Speaker 1>having predicted in two thousand six the collapse of the

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<v Speaker 1>housing market in the US and now for today's main story.

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<v Speaker 1>One thing the pandemic seems to have rendered obsolete, at

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<v Speaker 1>least for now, is mass tourism. Beach towns lined with

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<v Speaker 1>hotels that boast hundreds of rooms are struggling in a

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<v Speaker 1>socially distanced age. One tourist hotspot in Spain that once

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<v Speaker 1>drew throngs of young people is trying to reinvent itself

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<v Speaker 1>for a future of tightly controlled and intimate trips. Jeanette

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<v Speaker 1>Newman reports the sound of summer. Those waves are rolling

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<v Speaker 1>onto a beach in Benny Dorm, a town on Spain's

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<v Speaker 1>Mediterranean coast, from June to August. Year after year, there's

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<v Speaker 1>barely a free inship sand to be found on this beach.

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<v Speaker 1>Sunbathers lineup towel to towel for miles. Crowds swell up

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<v Speaker 1>and down the beach front promenade. Skyscraper hotels crammed with

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds of thousands of visitors tower overhead. The cityscape is

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<v Speaker 1>the iconic image of the summer high season in Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>Even though many people, particularly in the US, I've never

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<v Speaker 1>heard of Benny Dorm, It's among the most popular destinations

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<v Speaker 1>in Spain. That's no small feet. Spain is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most visited countries in the world. Benny Dorm started

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<v Speaker 1>to become a hot spot decades ago. It was among

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<v Speaker 1>the initial destinations in Europe for package holidays affordable trips

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<v Speaker 1>abroad organized by a travel agent. Since then, Benny Dorm

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<v Speaker 1>has become a mecca of mass tourism. More than four

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<v Speaker 1>million people visit the town's beaches and bars every year.

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<v Speaker 1>Most of them are from Spain and Britain and stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's just st play cricket, got lack an end

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<v Speaker 1>of seasons ship, you come, just lots and stuff so.

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<v Speaker 1>Chris Ward is a twenty five year old from Leeds, England.

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<v Speaker 1>On a recent summer afternoon in Benny Dorm, he and

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<v Speaker 1>his friends shown O were sipping a pint at the

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<v Speaker 1>Crown Pub. Chris has been to Benny Dorm more than

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<v Speaker 1>a dozen times for bachelor parties and end of season

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<v Speaker 1>trips with his cricket and rugby teams. He says it's

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<v Speaker 1>a unique and crazy place. I don't I don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't describe it. I always say there's there's there's

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<v Speaker 1>loads of places it well that's look better than Benny Dorm.

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<v Speaker 1>But there's no where I've been that's like Benny Dom,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what I mean. It's I don't know, it's

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<v Speaker 1>just it's just not there's just you say things that

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<v Speaker 1>you'll never say anywhere at else, Chris laughed. He declined

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<v Speaker 1>to elaborate. What happens in Benny Dorm. Apparently stays in

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<v Speaker 1>Benny Dorm. It was shown his first time here during

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<v Speaker 1>a pandemic. I knew it's a little bit same, but

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<v Speaker 1>I think I quiet like there's like it's been quite

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<v Speaker 1>chilled out where less. There's not as many peoples this

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<v Speaker 1>summer in Benny Dorm, As in so many places around

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<v Speaker 1>the world, there's space where there used to be crowds, silence,

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<v Speaker 1>when there used to be sounds and caution and angst

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<v Speaker 1>instead of freewheeling abandoned. To ensure social distancing on Benny Dorms,

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<v Speaker 1>Levantevitch officials have marked off large squares in the sand

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<v Speaker 1>with blue rope. Each space can hold a maximum of

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<v Speaker 1>four people. Sunbathers have to reserve in advance. Many of

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<v Speaker 1>the spaces remain vacant because a crowded bats and everybody

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<v Speaker 1>has in their mind these simities. But now as you

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<v Speaker 1>can't see, it is a very organized feet. Everybody needs

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<v Speaker 1>to know where they must go. That's Larry Bilbao. She's

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<v Speaker 1>the director of the city's tourism board looking out over

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<v Speaker 1>Levante Beach. Larry tells me that many other cities haven't

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<v Speaker 1>put in place similar safety measures during a pandemic. She says,

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<v Speaker 1>Benny Dorm had to defy a stereotype, otherwise it would

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<v Speaker 1>risk an outbreak and even more people would steer clear

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<v Speaker 1>with this. With this situation, you can see that everybody

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<v Speaker 1>is happy and everybody is in the area. Since it

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<v Speaker 1>reopened in Midsummer, there's been on average seven thousand people

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<v Speaker 1>on the beach each day. That compares to twenty people

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<v Speaker 1>in normal times. Some people in Benny Dorm's tourism industry

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<v Speaker 1>told me that those norm more times will eventually return

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<v Speaker 1>once there's a vaccine. Levante Beach will once again have

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<v Speaker 1>twenty five thou sun bathers, bars will go back to

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<v Speaker 1>being jam packed, and tourism in the city will once

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<v Speaker 1>again be in mass. Others, though, I think the crisis

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<v Speaker 1>has changed us. Ramon Martinez and his family owned four

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<v Speaker 1>hotels in Benny Dorm. Even when we have a vaccine,

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<v Speaker 1>he thinks many people will still crave more space than before.

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<v Speaker 1>We know that is coming. A lot of change, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>in in our hotels. Like I told you before, the

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<v Speaker 1>maximum people in one room is too passion. Ramon is

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<v Speaker 1>renovating two of his hotels. He plans to build only

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<v Speaker 1>double rooms. That's a shift for many Benny Dorm hotels.

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<v Speaker 1>Their business models about volume, attracting a lot of lodgers.

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<v Speaker 1>By offering affordable rooms, clients get a discount, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>when they had an extra bed in the room, so

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<v Speaker 1>three people stay in a double room and four in

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<v Speaker 1>a triple. That appeals to friends keen to cut down

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<v Speaker 1>on the cost of a weekend away, or to families

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<v Speaker 1>with children. Ramon's renovation to right size his rooms is

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<v Speaker 1>going to take a couple of years. Right now, he

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<v Speaker 1>has his hands full managing his hotels during a pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>Ramon has outfitted the entrance to his Hotel Presidente with

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<v Speaker 1>mats that are coded and disinfectant. Thermographic cameras discreetly scan

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<v Speaker 1>the reception area. They're looking for anyone with a temperature.

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<v Speaker 1>Using artificial intelligence, the cameras can also detect if someone

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<v Speaker 1>isn't wearing a face mask. So far, Ramon says that

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't been a problem. Everyone is wearing the mass so

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<v Speaker 1>I mean the movery important thing is that you wear

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<v Speaker 1>your marks. We can do everything you want. We can

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<v Speaker 1>put everything but your mass and you if you are crazy,

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<v Speaker 1>we can we can knock it to at least. If

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<v Speaker 1>Ramon sounds a little muffled, it's because he himself was

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<v Speaker 1>wearing a mask while we were speaking. Visitors to Benny

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<v Speaker 1>Dorm say they welcome all the safety measures. In some ways, though,

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<v Speaker 1>the measures to control the masses in hotels and on

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<v Speaker 1>the beaches are responding to a problem that doesn't exist.

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<v Speaker 1>There are no crowds. Benny Dorm feels empty occupancy, and

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<v Speaker 1>Ramon's hotel Bresidente is around. Normally it would be around full.

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<v Speaker 1>Ramon and others had been expecting this summer to be bad,

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<v Speaker 1>but then it got worse. In mid July, coronavirus cases

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<v Speaker 1>started to rise again in Spain. The UK ordered British

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<v Speaker 1>travelers who returned from Spain to self quarantine for two weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>The news hit Benny Dorm particularly hard. Around of visitors

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<v Speaker 1>to the city are from the UK. Cancelations overwhelmed the

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<v Speaker 1>city's hotels. The surprise announcement also caught some British residents

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<v Speaker 1>mid vacation, including Bernie Schroka and her brother John Kelly.

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<v Speaker 1>They were having one of their final pints in a

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<v Speaker 1>Benny Dorm bar earlier this summer, preparing to head back

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<v Speaker 1>to England to self quarantine. Well, it's off because we

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't come out. Does a quarantine got it back? You know?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah about it? Yeah. Bernie is a teacher and doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>start working until the fall. The quarantine won't disrupt her

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<v Speaker 1>plans too much, but John works in maintenance at a hospital.

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<v Speaker 1>His two week absence will leave the place a bit

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<v Speaker 1>short staffed. They both say they're frustrated the quarantine order

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<v Speaker 1>was a surprise, but they understand that the pandemic makes

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<v Speaker 1>everything less certain. Now I've been coming to bant down

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<v Speaker 1>Snow I've never seen as I've never seen a discore.

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<v Speaker 1>Does it make you, does it make the vacation less enjoyable?

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<v Speaker 1>Or how does it change for us? I'll just go

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<v Speaker 1>sorry for them that are working, you know, they happen

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<v Speaker 1>to opay and it's to us here and the expense

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<v Speaker 1>they must be going. It's a sign of the times

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<v Speaker 1>for the world's battered tourism industry. Music blaring at two

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<v Speaker 1>people sitting in a near empty bar. Benny Dorm is

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<v Speaker 1>trying to adapt while the city awaits for the masses

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<v Speaker 1>to return. There might confordulate it probably would help you,

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<v Speaker 1>but that it might mean it s Risto. That was

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<v Speaker 1>Jeanette Newman, and that's it for our show today. For

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<v Speaker 1>coverage of the outbreak from one bureaus around the world,

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<v Speaker 1>visit bloomberg dot com slash Coronavirus and if you like

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<v Speaker 1>the show, please leave us a review and a rating

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<v Speaker 1>on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to

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<v Speaker 1>help more listeners find our global reporting. The Prognosis Daily

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<v Speaker 1>edition is produced by to for four or Hez, Jordan Gospoure,

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<v Speaker 1>Magnus Hendrickson and me Laura Carlson. Today's main story was

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<v Speaker 1>reported by Jeanette Newman. Original music by Leo Sidran. Our

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<v Speaker 1>editors are Francesco Levi and Rick Shine. Francesco Levi is

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg's head of podcasts. Thanks for listening.