MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW)- President Trump enacted a 30-day travel ban on non-Americans coming from Europe. The UK and Ireland not included, but a majority of Myrtle Beach’s J-1 students come from those European countries to work every summer.

Despite the travel restrictions, the Myrtle Beach Hospitality Association said right now they plan to have J-1 students here with the summer work program in full effect.

When it comes to Covid-19, Jeffery Wisniewski with the Myrtle Beach Hospitality Association is prepping for a rapidly changing situation.

“We are kind of in that wait and see situation unfortunately like everyone else. It’s just one of those things at this point,” said Wisniewski.

In 2018, more than 3,000 international students came to our area to work during the summer. A majority came from Eastern European countries and 5 percent came from China

“There are just not those local workers to fill a lot of the seasonal positions that our businesses need for peak tourism season,” said Wisniewski.

The U.S. Department of State runs the J-1 Visa program and the Myrtle Beach Hospitality Association said at this point they haven’t heard from the agency.

News 13 reached out to the department, which said the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs or ECA will temporarily pause all ECA funded programs that involve travel to and from countries the CDC has deemed an alert level 2 and warning level 3 as well as state department travel advisories.

That includes 29 countries in Europe, China, Iran, and South Korea. The ECA said it will pause programs for 60 days and ask all J-1 visa sponsors to follow those steps.

Wisniewski remains hopeful as J-1 students don’t arrive until mid to late May

“We are moving forward with all of our plans and we do anticipate that we will have students at some point this year,” said Wisniewski.

The International Student Outreach Program will hold its annual meeting on March 31st, at the Myrtle Beach Train Depot.

The U.S. State Department is expected to be there, and any new updates regarding J-1 students and coronavirus will happen at that event.