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Orange County task force discusses how to help tourism industry bounce back after coronavirus pandemic

Group gives recommendations for visitors who may come to Central Florida

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2020, file photo, Mickey and Minnie Mouse perform during a parade as they pass by the Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Florida tourism officials say cases of the new coronavirus are having little visible impact on the state's biggest industry so far. Disney officials said in a statement that extra hand sanitizers were being placed throughout its four parks and more than two dozen hotels. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File) (John Raoux, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Members of the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force met a day after Disney’s earning report showed it lost $1.4 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, the group discussed possible recommendations for visitors who may come to Central Florida once the theme parks reopen.

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"We must bring some form of validation that will help give the confidence and build that trust that we need in our case and for this committee purpose for the visitor," George Aguel, President of Visit Orlando said.

[RELATED: Disney shares plans to reopen parks with new safety measures | Survey gives glimpse of damage to Florida’s tourism industry in wake of coronavirus pandemic]

Disney also announced Shanghai Disneyland will be reopening on May 11 with reduced capacity and social distancing guidelines for guests.

Though there's no reopen date for the theme parks in Orlando, similar restrictions could be on the way.

“I think we all heard the announcement the opening of Shanghai Disney and with that in mind I believe we can see some opportunity to be monitoring what that may mean here,” Aguel said.

Task force members also suggested doing consumer surveys to get feedback from residents now that places are slowly reopening.

“If the locals are comfortable going to Disney, going to Universal and doing everything that we do here then I think we will see that highlighted in the news, in our social media feeds,” Evelyn Cardenas with Central Florida Auto Dealers Association said.

To keep up with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6′s coronavirus newsletter or go to ClickOrlando.com/coronavirus. For more updates on Florida’s theme parks, head to clickorlando.com/themeparks.


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