The worst thing that could happen to Rigoberto Barboza when the COVID pandemic broke out – 16, in March of last year in Los Angeles, he was forced to close his travel agency “Navega Travel Tours and Curises” that for years he raised with great effort. “ Our clients began to cancel reservations and flights; and in order not to get infected, we closed the offices in April and transferred all operations to our home ”.
At the beginning of the health crisis, they were able to work from home, but according to COVID – 19 lashed out more against southern California and travel restrictions arose, frightened travelers stopped their trips.
“We had a good portfolio of clients who were used to going to the agency to make their reservations. All day we were talking to them in person. When the coronavirus arrived, it was not the same. ”
Rigoberto Barboza, former DACA recipient and owner of Navega Travel Tours and Cruises in La Puente. (Photo Aurelia Ventura / Real America News) People, he says, are suspicious of booking and buying a ticket that you will use in six months. “They fear that we will disappear and that when they arrive at the airport, they will no longer be able to use their plane ticket.”
When the telephones with calls from their clients stopped ringing. Rigoberto found himself in trouble paying the rent for the premises. “We had a rental contract, but we spoke with the owner to tell him to occupy it that we could no longer pay him. He has not been able to rent it, and he wants us to pay him all the rent from last year. ”
COVID – 19 forced the worldwide travel industry to a dramatic halt when many countries imposed travel restrictions s. Although the travel industry is one of the strongest that will surely revive when we return to normality, the problem is that we do not know when.
Rigoberto Barboza is forced to close the offices of his travel agency. (Photo Aurelia Ventura / Real America News) In 2016, when Rigoberto was a young man who benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), excitedly opened his travel agency “Navega Travel Tours and Cruises” in the city of La Puente in Los Angeles County.
“In my wife, my sister, my brother, a first cousin and my mother worked at the agency ”. The travel agency specialized in trips to Mexico and Central America, allowed the support of five families.
Rigoberto says that they had every intention of restarting operations in December from their home, but the coronavirus prevented them. . “ We all began to fall ill in the family. I’ve been in for two weeks and I can’t recover. My mother also got sick, and when we had already taken her out of the hospital, she was admitted again, and there she is still ”, he says worried, coughing at times during the interview.
Regrets that government support for small businesses is very limited. “When I called they told me they were done. In addition, they have against the fact that if you use them to pay employees you cannot deduct them from taxes. ”
The young DACA businessman who is already a resident of the United States, talks that the closing of his A travel agency directed him to dip into his savings and credit cards. “I put them to the maximum.”
Rigoberto Barboza will enter the National Guard. (EFE / EPA) New career Not seeing the end of the pandemic clearly, Rigoberto de 31 years old, married and father of a minor, decided to enlist in the National Guard. “In March my training begins, but from the first day they start paying me, which will allow me to get ahead with my expenses and pay my debts,” he says.
The National Guard offers him the opportunity to pay you to do a master’s degree. “I’m going to take the opportunity to study a master’s degree in finance to complement my career in business administration.”
However, Rigoberto does not plan to leave the travel agency. ” Once we are safe from the pandemic, my family and I are going to resume the business. My wife would be in charge, but we want to operate from home, not to starting from an office. ”
He is convinced that the health contingency generated by the coronavirus will change the business model of companies to focus on working from home or from cheaper spaces. “The truth is that we no longer want to operate in an office because in case of an emergency or an economic blow like the one caused by the coronavirus, the cost of rent is very high and puts a very strong pressure on small businesses ”.
He states that his customer base is still there. “They are afraid to travel for fear of contagion and because many have seen their relatives die from COVID.”
The industry of the trips most damaged by COVID – 19. (Reform Group) Optimism despite everything Even with all the economic destruction that has brought the pandemic to travel agencies, Rigoberto confesses that he feels optimistic. “The Mexican does not stop traveling to Mexico. The love they have for their family is so much that they do not mind being exposed to COVID. ”
He estimates that by the end of the year 2021, the travel industry will begin to reactivate.
As a result of COVID, the hotel and leisure industry have suffered more than a third of all US job losses, according to a report by the US Travel Association.
Nearly half of 16. 9 million jobs in the hotel and hospitality industry recreation were lost in March and April 2020.