The Covid-19 outbreak has in its wake created severe domino effects. Not only the major airlines or chain hotels affected, but also the 80 per cent of tourism sector made up of smaller accommodation providers plus the peripheral services associated with tourism, including food and beverage, cleaning service providers, local tour guides and transportation.
With World Travel and Tourism Council's latest forecast that up to 75 million jobs will be at risk, it begets the question: Is the industry going to recover? The answer is yes, but it will take all hands on deck, and a strong collaboration among all parties.
First, government support is crucial. The travel industry supports one in 10 jobs within the global workforce in Asia Pacific, the Americas and Europe, and rising to 13.3 percent of total employment in Southeast Asia. Governments can and are playing a critical role in supporting the industry to protect individuals' livelihoods and in turn lead to economic recovery.
Several governments have already announced stimulus packages to cushion the impact of the outbreak. This funding is proving crucial for the travel industry to maintain business continuity in the short term, but further to that, collaboration and cooperation with key industry players is important to help drive sustainable recovery within this sector.
Tourism ministries and destination marketing organisations (DMOs) can partner with online travel agents (OTAs) to inspire desire to travel and attract travellers to destinations right across their markets in a sustainable way, which supports communities outside of key tourist destinations that were also impacted by Covid-19.
These digital travel platforms, with their expansive reach and marketing tools, act as a bridge to help DMOs reach domestic and international travel audiences, while DMOs can encourage future travel planning by funding traveler incentives, while properties offer flexible cancellations.
Second, the role of industry players. Agile travel players can take the opportunity to improve their offering and build new capabilities, preparing for when travel picks up again.
In fact, the recent guidelines from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to help the global tourism sector re-open smoothly and safely, emphasised the importance of innovation and technology in building the industry's resilience.
Accommodation providers, airlines and tour operators need to be attuned to changing travellers' expectations, which may look quite different post-pandemic.
Innovation to anticipate these evolving needs is essential and identifying solutions that prioritise safety and flexibility now during travel downtime, will go a long way to rebuilding confidence.
Our research shows that travellers expect more from their travel experience in the 2020s with advances in technology improving the efficiency and ease of booking and traveling. In fact, mobile app check-in will become the norm at hotels or holiday accommodation this decade. This desire may be even more prevalent for travel post-Covid, as people may demand contactless processes as far as possible.
In addition, hoteliers and airlines are reviewing and updating cancellation policies and procedures to align with travellers' new expectations.
These will likely include more flexible booking options, making use of data analytics to better review occupancy levels and pricing strategies according to demand, as well as working with different distribution channels to reach travelers with their accommodation offers or flight deals.
Credit card networks and banks have a role to play as well and can support by promoting safe travel campaigns.
Most importantly, across the travel ecosystem, all parties should work in tandem to not only align the conditions for such new policies and strategies, but also coordinate on campaign themes and periods, making it easier and more attractive for travellers to plan and book their travel.
Third, travellers also have a part to play. Travellers fuel the sector. People will want to travel again, to explore the beauty of the world on their doorstep and further afield, though we expect the pace of travel industry recovery will differ across the world.
However, without the collective understanding for responsible travel once governments begin to lift travel restrictions, the recovery process will be a slow and arduous one.
Our survey found that more than 25 per cent of people want to make more eco-friendly travel choices in the next decade.
The pandemic may make us reflect even more on sustainable travel; travellers may become more aware of the impact of their decisions and habits, which may lead to seeking out more environmentally friendly hotels, or picking destinations in less visited secondary cities to help spread tourism dollars and rebuild local communities.
People's desire to travel will not be quelled. However, bringing back tourists and re-building confidence in travel is going to take new approaches and collaboration.
Like the story of the bundle of sticks, where a single stick can be easily broken but not when held in a bundle, it will take a collaborative effort from all players to pull through this together and reinvigorate the travel sector in a safe and sustainable manner.
* The writer is Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Programs, Agoda