The Covid-19 pandemic has turned into a global crisis, the impacts of which are being felt around the world. Tourism and hospitality is one of the most severely hit sectors with many arguing that this is a period for fundamental transformations towards a new normal in the industry. There are also voices, however, who argue for a bouncing back and the recapturing of lost ground as soon as the circumstances allow. At the time of writing this abstract, several countries were experiencing a third wave with limited knowledge however on the impacts and experiences from the first wave.This research is on two destinations, one in Sweden and one in the USA. The two countries have followed quite different approaches in the management of the pandemic. We performed in-depth interviews with tourism businesses and actors in the two destinations with the aim of understanding their reactions and their experiences at an early stage of the pandemic. Interviews took place in spring 2020 when most of the world was still in lockdown. We try to understand how companies in an island summer destination in the Baltic Sea and in a nature-based destination in the USA are coping and negotiating their future early in the pandemic. Uncertainty was evident among interviewees. Uncertainty was related to lack of knowledge about the future and how to cope with and manage their business in light of that. Uncertainty was experienced also as anxiety over the survival of their business or even the future of the tourism industry and the social implications the economic downturn would have. Besides that, tourism actors in both destinations were trying to adapt and change their business models or products to respond to the crisis. They could see some positive signs in the new products or models they have adapted and how they could shape the future. Thinking out of the box or investing time and effort in things they did not have the time to do before were perceived as positive. Although at a very early stage to claim any transformation, change and adaptability to respond to the new circumstances and reduce losses were found among businesses. This is an early reaction paper to understand how companies and destinations were experiencing and understanding their situation amidst the crisis. This knowledge can help us understand and better manage destinations for the new normal but also in future crisis situations.