“We will have to adjust.”

Companies and some of the conferences are finding ways to make do by gathering online. A day-long virtual meeting was organized for would-be attendees of the cancelled HIMSS Global Health and Conference and a virtual conference for the American Physical Society meeting. Google Cloud also moved its conference online.

“The benefit of this, though not necessarily for the right reason, will facilitate that digital connection much faster,” said Anne Greven, global head of food and agriculture startup innovation at Rabobank.

The coronavirus has the potential to disrupt travel for more than just a few months. After businesses survive without the in-person touch for a prolonged period, it’s not hard to envision managers liking the lower-cost structure and not reinstating as many trips when the health threat recedes. That would be more bad news for major airlines, which are already cutting schedules and pulling profit guidance amid the turmoil.

But there was also plenty of speculation that business travel would be permanently muted after the September 11 attacks in 2001, only for it to bounce back.

Behavior does change, though, especially when it comes to the internet. Remember there was a time when many scoffed at the idea of buying clothes from a website without trying them on first. Now people are purchasing cars and houses online.

“If this is more like a six-month thing, we’ll all have to learn new skills,” said Mark Randall, a long-time tech executive whose stops include Amazon and Google.

Still, the digital realm can’t replace all types of activities. Mergers and acquisitions this year are off to the slowest start since 2013, and in a growing number of cases being delayed.

“Imagine trying to close a deal remotely?” said Randall, who after a career as a tech executive now invests in and advises companies. “I’ve done a zillion negotiations with vendors on billion-dollar sized deals, and I haven’t done one remotely. Good luck doing that on Zoom.”

Charif Souki, co-founder and chairman of natural-gas producer Tellurian Inc., has already experienced the pain of not having face-to-face communication. The company has been trying to secure customers for a $29 billion liquefied gas project in Louisiana, but those efforts have been subdued by the coronavirus outbreak, which has surpassed 113,000 globally and caused more than 3,900 deaths.