The coronavirus has touched all of us. People, businesses, and entire countries are feeling its sting, even months after the initial outbreak. As we navigate this crisis, it’s crucial to understand which of the top 10 industries are taking the biggest hits and why.
Why the Top 10 Industries Matter During the Pandemic
10 Travel
Arguably the most visibly battered sector, the travel industry has been rocked from every angle. Airlines are scrambling for cash, tourist hotspots have turned into ghost towns, and luxury resorts that once thrummed with vacationers now sit eerily quiet.
Big‑name chains such as Hilton Hotels and Resorts have reported revenue slumps that would have seemed impossible just a year ago. Down under, Australia’s once‑dominant Virgin Airlines has been forced to tap government loans just to stay afloat.
In response, several carriers are overhauling their entire business models: redesigning cabin interiors, revamping booking platforms, and playing a pricing seesaw—some hiking fares to recoup losses, others slashing prices to lure hesitant travelers. Billions of dollars have been poured into rescue packages, yet the road ahead remains steep for many travel firms.
9 Video Game
While the video‑game world isn’t facing outright closures, it’s feeling the pressure of a massive surge in online activity. Servers have been buckling under unprecedented loads, with some gamers stuck in queues that stretch up to ten hours.
Subscriptions to massive multiplayer titles such as Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft have rocketed, reflecting a hunger for shared digital experiences while physical gatherings stay shut.
Physical releases, however, have hit snags. Retail giants like Amazon have prioritized household essentials, sidelining entertainment orders, and many brick‑and‑mortar game stores have shuttered out of safety concerns. This bottleneck has left fans scrambling for copies, and if trends persist, future titles might skip physical distribution altogether.
8 Fast Food
Fast‑food chains like McDonald’s and Taco Bell have stayed open under the banner of “essential businesses.” They’ve rolled out stricter cleaning regimens, shortened operating hours, and in many cases shifted to drive‑through‑only service.
Mask mandates for both staff and patrons have become the norm, yet many employees remain uneasy, with a noticeable uptick in resignations and attempts to minimize face‑to‑face interaction.
On the upside, the sector experienced a sales boom after embracing delivery—either through proprietary apps or partnerships with services like DoorDash. Buoyed by this surge, numerous fast‑food operators have pledged to keep delivery options alive well beyond the pandemic’s end.
7 Health Care
The health‑care arena has been hit front‑and‑center. Shortages of personal‑protective equipment and the difficulty of enforcing social distancing have left thousands of frontline workers contracting COVID‑19 themselves.
Hospitals have grappled with bed shortages and staffing crises, at times leaving patients with the virus without the care they need. The relentless pressure has sparked burnout among many clinicians, threatening overall care quality.
Nevertheless, a wave of volunteers has stepped up across the United States, taking on basic tasks to give exhausted doctors and nurses a much‑needed breather. Their contributions have become a lifeline in a system stretched to its limits.
6 Retail
The retail sector has turned into a battlefield of panic buying and supply chain strain. Grocery aisles have been inundated with frantic shoppers hunting for toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and other essentials.
Images of empty shelves at big‑box retailers like Walmart and Publix quickly went viral, revealing that scalpers were hoarding products to resell at inflated prices. Meanwhile, employees faced heightened anxiety about personal exposure to potentially infected customers.
To curb hoarding, many stores imposed purchase limits, while prices for hot‑ticket items surged. Mandatory closing hours and the ever‑looming threat of infection have transformed the retail environment into a hostile, high‑stress arena.
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5 Pro Wrestling
WWE broadcasts during the pandemic have taken on an almost theatrical quality, stripped of the roaring crowds that normally fuel the spectacle. The resulting silence lends the matches a surreal, stage‑play vibe.
Without the usual fan chants and cheers, jokes and over‑the‑top antics acquire a new emotional weight, turning what was once light‑hearted entertainment into something oddly poignant. While this “crowdless” format is likely temporary, its impact on the viewing experience will be remembered.
4 Streaming
Streaming platforms are thriving like never before. Netflix reports record‑breaking traffic as couch‑potatoes stay home, while services such as Hulu and Vudu have seen massive subscriber inflows.
The surge has come with a downside: bandwidth demand has spiked, slowing overall internet speeds for many users. YouTube, Amazon Prime, and similar sites are also feeling the pressure of heightened traffic.
Overall, the streaming sector is riding a wave of unprecedented growth, with no signs of a slowdown on the horizon.
3 Music
Live concerts have been canceled, album releases delayed, and sales have taken a hit as the pandemic reshapes the music business. While established artists feel the tremors, record labels have suffered massive revenue drops, and fans have turned to YouTube or even piracy for their musical fix.
Nonetheless, creation continues. Rapper Playboi Carti dropped a quarantine‑produced album, and megastars like Taylor Swift, Travis Scott, and Lady Gaga have staged virtual concerts inside video‑game platforms such as Fortnite, keeping fans engaged from the safety of their homes.
2 Porn
While most don’t associate the pandemic with adult entertainment, consumption on porn sites has skyrocketed as people search for ways to fill idle time at home.
Beyond viewers, there’s been a notable rise in amateur production, spawning a new sub‑genre of coronavirus‑themed content where actors dramatize infection scenarios, from mock doctor visits to staged coughing scenes.
Professional shoots, however, have faced cancellations over safety concerns. Many performers have shifted to webcam modeling—known as “camming”—to replace lost income, and some have temporarily exited the industry altogether out of fear of exposure.
1 The Film Industry
The film world, especially movie theaters, has been hit hard with closures, cancellations, and a hemorrhaging of revenue. Many actors have been barred from set work, pushing production schedules into indefinite limbo.
In response, studios have shifted releases to streaming platforms. The surprise digital debut of Trolls World Tour generated profits that far exceeded traditional box‑office expectations, showcasing a new distribution model.
This pivot has ignited a fierce backlash from theater owners, who threaten to ban future Universal Studios releases as retaliation for the dual‑release strategy.
Theaters argue that exclusive theatrical windows are essential for their survival; without that guaranteed first‑run period, they fear audiences will never return.
But then again, maybe that’s a good thing! The pandemic could be accelerating a long‑awaited evolution in how we consume movies.