The coronavirus has arrived on US soil. 791 cases have been confirmed across 36 states and more suspected cases are popping up every day — the virus is spreading and it’s spreading with people.

Which is why, when you look at a map of states with confirmed coronavirus cases, you’ll notice a pattern: those states who have so far avoided infection, are the ones nobody actually wants to visit. It makes sense, but it also says something about the state of tourism in those areas…

Image courtesy of Live Science.

Not that there isn’t anything cool to see or do in New Mexico, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, the Dakotas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Michigan, West Virginia, or Rhode Island. But it does paint a picture of where people tend to travel to and which parts of the country are generally left alone.  

So, maybe there is an advantage to living somewhere so shitty people try to avoid it. Especially when there’s a pandemic viral infection on the loose.

This could be very useful information for tourism boards across the nation, though. Now, they can plainly see just how much action they’re missing. The fact that these places haven’t gotten Coronavirus yet is a double-edged sword: on one hand it’s great that no one is getting sick there. On the other hand, it’s not a great sign that no one wants to visit your state.

Some people are probably pretty stoked on that, right about now. “Fuck you diseased outsiders,” the recluses and apocalyptic preppers of those uninfected states are saying. “You can keep you distance and your viruses!”

However, when the dust of this coronavirus settles (if civilization still stands), when life finally returns to normal and these parts of the country are still being passed by, flown over or driven through, it might start to look like opportunity missed. It might start to look like lost dollar bills.

Maybe this is the motivation that places like North Dakota needed to really stimulate their tourism industry. Maybe the fact that no one’s infected them yet will make them feel left out and unworthy. Or, maybe it’s just going to instill a sense of safety in the people who live there, to keep it small, unvisited and protected from the evils of the outside world.

Only time will tell.