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American Morning

Entertainment Industries Drastically Affected by Terrorism

Aired September 21, 2001 - 11:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Since the terror attacks, businesses everywhere seem to be suffering -- from airlines to hotels to entertainment and all of the industries that support them. The numbers are down.

Among our correspondents looking into that: Michael Okwu on Broadway, John Zarrella in Orlando, Florida and Frank Buckley in Las Vegas. Good to see you all.

Let's begin with you, Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, they call Times Square the crossroads of the world, but it's also the epicenter of New York's entertainment industry, the Great White Way.

But the fact is that last week's attacks have really taken a serious bite out of Broadway. I'm standing right next to the ticket office here on Broadway right in the middle of Times Square, and it happens to be closed right now. It's going to be opening up at about 3:00 this afternoon. But it has been very slow and quiet here. Most of the times, the past week or so, it's been completely quiet.

If I can ask you, Rich, to take a look, a pan down this gate. Usually by this hour people are lining up almost all the way down the block to get into the -- to get tickets for shows this afternoon and later on in the evening; but that has not been happening.

Five Broadway shows say that they will close their productions. Six, another half dozen or so, say that they are vulnerable. And they include some very, very well known, long-running programs like "Rent" and "Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Miserables." Even "The Producers," against its phenomenal success, is suffering on its own. They lost almost half a million dollars last week compared to ticket sales the week before.

The fact is that seeing a Broadway production is considered a very festive event, and there haven't been too many New Yorkers who have felt festive in the last week and a half. And the other point is that Broadway relies so heavily on the tourist industry. Apparently some 45 to 50 percent of all tickets sales are really bought by tourists. And they are not too many terrorist who are travelling to New York City, certainly not in the past week and a half or so.

Hotel reservations are down. They say that the occupancy in hotels is down 30 percent since September 11. The fact is that things are so bad -- so bad that they are -- that people who work on Broadway have agreed to a 25 percent pay cut. They call themselves rescue workers -- rescue workers for the Broadway stage.

More on the economic downswing from my friend John Zarrella in Orlando.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, I have to tell you the situation is certainly no better here. We are at an amusement park, one of the small mom and pop operations along highway 192, which a lot of folks are familiar if they've been to Orlando. You would usually see a tremendous amount of traffic here; nothing going on today. Very little traffic.

We talked to a couple of cab drivers this morning; they made $6. Generally speaking by this time of day, they would have made $100. They say that it is absolutely dead here. Hotel occupancy in a lot of the hotels here in the Orlando area down into the single digits. At the theme parks the parking lots are virtually empty. Inside, no lines, no waiting at the rides. People are going on and on and on -- those that are here. The visitors that are here are saying it is a great time to be here because there's nobody here.

Conventions -- 253 conventions planned for September, or group meetings, have been canceled. They hope that in October it will be better; only 84 cancellations or rebookings for later in the year or next year so far. They do believe that things will start to turn around, but right now it's pretty bleak.

And it's about that way out in Las Vegas, I understand, where my colleague Frank Buckley is -- Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, you're exactly right. This is supposed to be entering the peak season in the Las Vegas area. We are live on the Las Vegas strip. And the infrastructure is certainly still here. All of the hotels, all of the marquees, all of that. But these hotels are only half full. According to the hotel operators we've been talking to they are already laying off hundreds of people here, and they are planning to go into the thousands of layoffs. A big part of this puzzle here is the airline situation. Half of the visitors to Las Vegas travel by air, and many of them are not right now.

Joining me now is the CEO and president of National Airlines, Mike Conway.

Mike, first of all, where are you right now in terms of your loads on your planes coming into Las Vegas?

MIKE CONWAY, CEO, NATIONAL AIRLINES: They're running about 50 percent; and that's after downsizing the operations by 20 percent.

But we're not standing still. We have a nationwide promotion for the next four Tuesdays. Anywhere in our system, the originating trip is only $1. The return trip is about 20 percent of what the normal fares are. We announced that program just a few days ago, and we took several thousand bookings within hours.

So for the next four Tuesdays, we'll be full. And I would encourage my colleagues in the airline industry, with the government assistance that's forthcoming, to the extent they can, try and make it affordable for Americans to start moving again. That is so crucial.

BUCKLEY: What is it that your passengers are saying? Are they afraid to fly? Are they concerned about the hassles involved now at the airports? What exactly is it that they're telling you?

CONWAY: It's a little bit of both. Obviously there's an apprehension about flying. The airlines and the airports have gotten their act together. The processing is relatively smooth along with the heightened procedures.

But I think people need to understand every day 30,000 men and women who are pilots and flight attendants in our industry, they take to the skies every day. Yesterday alone, a half a million people flew on the U.S. commercial airlines.

We need to get people back in the sky. We need to alleviate the apprehension level they have and give them confidence. Understandably, people are angry and concerned. Now is the time to channel that anger and get back about the business of what our country is all about.

BUCKLEY: Mike Conway, president and CEO of National Airlines, thanks very much for joining us.

And as John mentioned, convention business off here as well in Las Vegas. Since the tragedies in New York 182 meetings or conventions have been canceled -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks so much.

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