Tourism and Hospitality Industry After COVID-19: How to Survive During The Crisis
The global tourism industry had effectively stopped by early April due to widespread coronavirus-related crisis, bans by many countries on tourist entry and air travel. But no matter how terrible the situation is now; history shows that the travel industry can recover very quickly from crises.
So far, experts are very cautious in predicting the time of tourism exit from collapse, as it is directly dependent on the lifting of restrictions, and now quarantines are not lifted, but only introduced or tightened. But they are all unanimous that after a long-forced sitting at home, people will want to travel even more than before.
The coronavirus-related tourism crisis is one of the hardest trials for the global tourist industry in decades. Here, the opinions of experts differ. Some find similarities in the events after September 11, 2001, in New York City, and some say even that nothing comparable in scale in international tourism has happened since the end of World War II. It is a matter of perception, and it is obvious that the real losses from what is happening now are simply impossible to assess, as it is unknown when everything will end.
How tourism industry will change
The tourism industry will not recover until December 2020 from the crisis. Don’t be under illusions that it will happen earlier. Moreover, you will hardly have enough finance to maintain the rentals contracts, pay the salaries of employees.
Obviously, and as it is said by all the experts after a long and exhausting sitting in flats tourists will immediately want to go on travel as soon as they have such an opportunity. By the time the borders open, the industry will have accumulated huge delayed demand.
The question is whether tourists’ desires will be supported by their capabilities, as the economic crisis will reduce the savings of people in all countries facing coronavirus and reduce their purchasing power. And will international tourism not prove to be a gift to the rich, whose well-being won’t be affected by the pandemic?
We’ve compiled such a check-list, which we are using now to survive:
- Reduce all unnecessary expenditures. From this, you will not go anywhere if you want to stay on the market and continue to go business.
- What you’ll do after the crisis ends. Note that most clients have not yet recovered from the financial crisis, so reservations will be based on properties. People will not be in a hurry to book luxurious apartments because they will still have doubts about whether the trip will take place at all.
- Advertising campaigns. Think about new details, what to change and the main thing – how to attract the client.
- Long-term rental. If we’re talking about hosts, it’s wonderful. Hotels don’t have that opportunity. Unfortunately, they are forced to work with margin occupancy.
- Leaders of past periods. There will be new players, and the old ones, who survived the crisis, will come out winners and take the first positions.
- Safety and purity. The main emphasis will now be on the availability of a first aid kit, clean water, laundry, clean laundry. This will now be the number one item on the list.
- Business automation. This includes messages, communication with clients, organization of transfers, meeting of guests at the airport, booklets, brochures with places with a good reputation and excellent quality. Automation also concerns check-in, retracts, and other business processes.
- World digitalization. Few can make clear documents, draw up a convenient schedule for both guests and staff.
- Schedule of holidays. It will become relevant to plan each day of your vacation. The guest, as a rule, will know already in advance when and that he will do: trip, a campaign to the beach, excursion, etc.
- Cancelation policies. Guests will now pay special attention to this item. Most likely, everyone will switch to the option “Flexible,” otherwise many reservations cannot wait.
- Direct reservations. The relevant booking will be directly through the person, not the intermediary. Customers will try to save every penny by bypassing all possible commissions that systems take.
- Virtual tours. Video tours will become relevant: how to get around, as well as a tour of the apartment or hotel itself.
- Updating of the properties. It is worth paying special attention to the serviceability of fire extinguishers, the presence of medical kits and fire exits, safety rules, the presence of certain inscriptions in the hotel or apartment such as “Standard…, checked….” All this must be formalized and by ISO rules.
- Training of personnel. We think that in times of crisis, the best option to spend your free time is to gain new skills and knowledge. As we said earlier, the world will change, so you need to be prepared for overpriced requirements for both customers and company staff. If everything is done correctly, it will certainly pay dividends and allow the company to take a huge step forward after entering the market immediately after the end of the crisis.
People will not stop travelling, services of the tourist business and hospitality industry will be in demand. The market will be given to those who have the strength to hold on and emerge from the crisis even stronger and more hardened. Humanity has experienced more epidemics, with a much more modest arsenal of means to combat them!
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