U.S. Business Leaders Caution Against Overreacting to Virus

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and travel industry leaders urged businesses and consumers not to overreact to the spread of coronavirus and to take precautions while going about business as usual.

“Now is not the time to overreact or panic,” said the chamber’s Chief Executive Officer Tom Donohue at a press conference in Washington Wednesday. “Fear and panic undermine our ability to contain the virus, to minimize disruptions to daily life and to keep our economy humming along.”

Leaders of retail, airline, and hotel industries projected confidence in business activity, saying they expect minimal impact as the virus spreads. Their predictions came a day after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates amid mounting concern that the coronavirus outbreak threatens to stall the record U.S. economic expansion.

“We don’t think that this situation is going to pose any lasting longterm negative effect on our industry or other industries,” Stephanie Martz, the chief administrative officer of the National Retail Federation, said at the briefing at the chamber’s headquarters.

Donohue said the chamber is working with the White House, other government agencies and foreign officials. He said he has “great confidence” in the Trump administration’s handling of the outbreak.

Roger Dow, the head of the U.S. Travel Association, said the government would be “extremely smart” to stimulate travel even though there will only be a “small dip” in demand for domestic leisure trips.

Donohue said it would be good to support regional airlines, but added that “we don’t need any bailouts here.”

Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, predicted that even if people do hold back on travel temporarily, “there’s going to be pent-up demand.”

Nicholas Calio, president and CEO of Airlines for America, a trade group for the industry, was set to meet with the White House Wednesday about protecting travelers from the spreading virus. He urged the federal government to develop a website and an app to track contact information for international passengers.

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