As the 9/11 Tribute Museum Goes Bankrupt, Other Tourism Companies in Danger

When an important part of our country’s history goes bankrupt as a result of government incompetence, it shines a light on an untold pattern.

We’ve been writing extensively at this website about the ongoing purge of tourist businesses that you’ll hear almost nothing at all about on any other location. That doesn’t mean it’s not happening, it just means it is a silent action deemed unworthy of being broadcast through traditional news media. It doesn’t fit the desired narrative. But ongoing it is with a huge number of small businesses going under as a result of the pandemic, the post-pandemic economy and policy decisions at both the federal and state levels across the country.

According to the Nation’s Restaurant News, more than 10% of all restaurants in the United States were closed permanently due to COVID by the summer of 2021. That’s not taking into account the additions that arose since that point. Maintaining a restaurant is already one of the hardest jobs in the world. That additional 10% drop accounts for an almost unfathomable number of dining establishments that were the dreams of untold entrepreneurs, now wiped out by a pandemic.

— Recession, Inflation, Taxes: How the Economy is Squeezing Tourism

Sure, Disney World and Dollywood are doing fine. Demand developed over the pandemic has insured that the big companies have done quite well. They also were able to weather the storm because of their vast resources. The smaller companies, the mom and pop restaurants, the locally-run museums, the touristy stops along the winding roads in the American southwest… those are the establishments which are disappearing at a rapid rate. Yet you’ll only hear about most of the eradication of important American tourism businesses on the ending pages of a local newspaper. Because they don’t rise to the top, they go down in isolation… in numbers, but seldomly recognized as an ongoing and significant trend.

That is why the recent story about the 9/11 Tribute Museum going out of business is so important. What a vital part of New York tourism, and even more significant, the museum that is run by 9/11 families rather than the government! And yet, as a result of the pandemic and New York City’s policies, the museum of the people is unable to stay afloat. It is the story of so many companies around the country, but this time it isn’t in silence like those who lose their hopes and dreams quietly, gone with a whimper. As the Tribute Museum goes down, just take a look at these number drops for visitors and remember that all the other small museums and tourist locales must also be seeing these sorts of issues. Once you realize that, you understand that the impact on tourism around the country has been catastrophic… yet largely uncovered.

“Two-thirds of our income revenue annually comes from our earned income from admissions. We were completely closed for six months in 2020. We had been averaging 300,000 visitors a year … and last year we had a total of 26,000 visitors, so it completely annihilated our earned income.”

— Jennifer Adams-Webb, Co-Founder of the Museum and the CEO of the September 11th Families’ Association

If not even the 9/11 Tribute Museum can make it… if it drops attendance by more than 90% from pre-pandemic levels… how in the world is any privately owned museum going to make it?

The 9/11 TRIBUTE Museum in New York City is CLOSED. A TRAGEDY.

The museum focused on the PEOPLE who were at the towers during the attacks, the VICTIMS, the SURVIVORS & FIRST RESPONDERS.

WHOEVER wins #NY10 *must* FIX THIS!

This is a NATIONAL DISGRACE!pic.twitter.com/JxjjpP82eB

— Peter Morley (@morethanmySLE) August 18, 2022

Ultimately, it’s our loss. We lose culture, we lose leisure opportunities, we lose the uniqueness that small businesses bring to tourism. It’s hard not to wonder, however, whether it’s exactly what the big corporations want. And unfortunately they seem to have had the ears and the arms of the power brokers in Washington DC while the little guys are now going under in mass.

An annihilation of small businesses in an entire industry, all brought about by government decisions instead of the merits of the businesses and their owners. How sad it is. While companies in places like Orlando and Gatlinburg were spared by their governments, let us not forget that in many states, the face of tourism and entertainment has been changed forever.

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