Will travelers trash or treasure the planet after the pandemic?
Let's journey back to a different time. One that feels far away. Early January 2020.Travelers were gearing up for another booming year of adventures – from visits to Japan for the Olympics to cruises galore. But while we aimed for another year of far-flung trips, environmental activists continued their warnings about a growing climate catastrophe and the role travelers were playing.Some people had been heeding their calls and trying to plan more sustainable trips. Tips on going green from CNN Travel and other sites were popular reading then.But for the most part, travel projections were for more of the same. We couldn't let problems such as emissions and overtourism keep us at home – we had a world to see in 2020!Meanwhile, a new and different kind of threat – one that couldn't be so easily swept aside – was about to be unleashed. Reports were coming out about a new, mysterious virus in the interior of China. It wasn't SARS. It had infected dozens of people. But what was it?We had no idea that our world and the travel industry with it were about to be turned upside down.
