Onli Travel Update: Covid19 and Packing Cubes Shortly Back in Stock!

Dear Onli Travel Community:

I’ve resisted writing a “Covid19 update” for a little while. My concern was, “What is a travel company going to say that adds to the Covid19 discussion?” I took a long walk alone tonight (the only type of travel currently allowed!) and thought about this. Here is what I came up with:

1. We are still here. We are still open. We can still ship products. We are blessed that we are entirely self funded so we don’t have any big debt payments coming due. Like everyone else, our sales are down, and we have had to reduce expenses, but we will get by. We are true believers in the value of travel, and we believe it will eventually return. Some of the sales we have had recently have been to people preparing for their next trip, who are equally confident. There were reportedly about 800 million international travelers in 2009, the year of the Financial Crisis and the Swine Flu, and there were over 1.2 billion last year. The world wants to travel. It will again.

2. In many ways, I think the Covid19 pandemic reinforces some simple messages: We are all in this together. Travel can nourish the brain and the soul. When you have to work from home and can’t leave the house, the value of travel, and the mental refreshment of new perspectives and new vistas, the joy of meeting new people or reconnecting with those you know and love, becomes a lot clearer.

3. We’re using this time productively. We’ve begun work on some exciting new products that I hope to be able to share with you by the end of the year. We think they will drive further innovation in the travel industry, and make it even easier for people to travel better, with more flexibility and less hassle and stress.

4. We haven’t stopped hustling! We were able to get our re-supply of packing cubes produced despite the Covid19, and we managed to get them air-shipped before flights out of VietNam (where our factory is) were shut down. We even managed to get them from New York’s JFK airport to Boston. We will be back in stock of packing cube sets and all-in-one bundles shortly! We also have our most productive ad ever running on Facebook, so more people are being exposed to our brand and our products than ever before. And, we’ve made progress in export sales to countries where – so far – Covid19 is less of a concern.

So for now, we’re appreciating more what travel has to offer, and we’re working hard and productively on the future, which we believe in and are willing to underwrite. We are humbled by the magnitude of the crisis the world is facing, grateful for the courage and skill of the first responders, and determined to do our part to bring people together more easily, when it becomes possible to bring people together again!

I hope all of you are doing well, weathering this crisis, and supporting those who need help.

Dave and the Onli Travel team