Tourism in post COVID-19 era
March 2020 was the last of the tourism industry as we know it, and the last time we would have seen anything like 'normal' for a long time.
Once lockdown restrictions are lifted, it would be a while before people would start taking business trips, let alone leisure trips again.
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According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the trade group representing major global travel companies, if the pandemic continues for several more months, a global loss of 75 million jobs and $2.1 trillion in revenue will be recorded.
In addition to the certain loss that the pandemic has brought to the industry what is also certain is the wide-ranging changes.
To start with, there shall be a new ‘protocol’ both for international and domestic travelling, largely based on health safety of arriving travellers and of the host destination. Related to that, countries will revisit and review their visa policies.
New visa regimes of countries are likely to be guided also by the health safety of respective countries. It is expected that governments will put health protocols and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place, for travellers and the industry at large to follow.
All countries striving to suppress the virus will impose similar restrictions on international arrivals. Their quarantine, self-isolation and testing rules will be burdensome.
Industry practitioners must begin to think about how to develop tourism business in a whole new world. For instance, how will tour guides meet and greet a new consumer?
What will the new international tourist want? Will people feel comfortable again being surrounded by hordes of other people? What will tour operators do to offer something new?
In terms of technology, things definitely will change. It is actually a great time to work on new tech projects, as this could be key to the future of your business. Though apps, hardware and software acquisitions could be expensive, tourism business cannot afford to ignore this because their competition will likely be doing the same.
Related cost is marketing tourism business. Here is where my next tip comes - Partnerships. It is an industry of partnerships, so practitioners should reach out to others.
This will generate business. Partners will support you and the right ones are prepared to offer an opportunity with a shared responsibility.
I now move to tourism authorities and countries in general. National tourism boards must put their immediate focus on domestic tourism, more than inbound or outbound.
This whole period could be considered a closed season. Attention and resources should be targeted at product inventory, development and fine-tune interpretation and marketing plans.
Different countries will try different modes to engage COVID-19. Some countries will end up – for various reasons – with what epidemiologists call “herd immunity.”
In these places, enough people will become infected and survive – and, it is hoped, acquire some degree of immunity – that the disease will no longer be able to spread like wildfire.
Sweden’s health leaders appear to have chosen to pursue herd immunity for their country.
Japan’s official communications have been less clear, but the limited lockdown – and the failure of contact tracing in some contexts – suggests that herd immunity will occur.
Brazil’s President calls this same approach “vertical isolation.”
Another category comprises countries that, while unable to eradicate the disease, are trying hard to suppress outbreaks for as long as possible.
These countries include the United States, Canada, and Europe. One common thing among this group is they have lowered the number of new cases with indiscriminate lockdowns, and they have already shrunk economic activity by 10-25%.
South Korea and China demonstrate that, with social cooperation and authoritarian zeal, countries can rapidly identify the newly infected, trace all their contacts, and quarantine the exposed until the danger of the disease is well past.