Affects of COVID 19 on Travel Blogging
The Corona Virus originated in the Wuhan city of China and turned into a pandemic disease. In China it was already a serious issue in January 2020. It was mainly imported in India by Students from India who were studying there, businessmen and to an extent tourists. The government of India started taking hard measures in the month of March 2020. Today 22nd March 2020 is a Janata curfew (public curfew) called the prime minister of India. From morning 7 AM to night 9 PM nobody is supposed to step out of their home. The Indian state of Rajasthan has already declared a lockdown till 31st March 2020. Many states has sealed their borders and suspended interstate buses. Indian railways suspended all passenger trains till 31st March 2020. Metro trains will also be suspended. Flights are still running but many airlines has said that they will be running at reduced capacity.
In such trying circumstances when travel itself has very difficult, do you need to travel? Even more important question is should you travel? I think we should not travel until and unless it is an emergency. Because by traveling you will not only put yourself at risk of COVID 19 but also your family and many other people. As a responsible travel blogger peace, preservation and safety is important. The most important thing a travel blogger love is travel then comes writing, clicking photos, making videos, sharing on social media etc. That travel today is virtually stopped. That is painful. Let me note down point wise how it could be affecting travel bloggers:
- Initially it may not affect the site hits much but if this lock down or restriction lasts for a extended period than site hits will come down substantially.
- This will lead to reduced earnings from their blogs in case if you earn from your blog.
- No travel, can bring down in morale
- No travel will also bring down in number of new contents
- Rebooting once this dire situation is over will also be not easy for many
But this should not put a full stop to you being a travel blogger during such time. There are many things we can try now :
- Conceptualizing new ideas
- Work to better your blog in terms of looks, usability etc
- Finish backlog works which could be pending for long time
- Work on new social media strategy
- Write new content which do not require travel
- Make DIY (do it yourself ) videos
Finally the most important question is should you Travel? I think no. This is important in our own interest, our family, our friends, our country and humanity at large.