People Have Passion For Travelling & Discovering

People love to Travel. They are enamored by the idea of travelling - getting away, discovering new places, doing something adventurous, meeting people from different cultures, trying different cuisines and so much more. It was like a therapy for their mind, body and soul until recently when the COVID-19 pandemic shut the entire world down, stopping TRAVEL all together. Needless to say, the travel and tourism industry has been one of the most affected industry by the pandemic.

Previously, the industry was hit by 9/11 in USA, the Earthquake and Tsunami hitting South East Asia in 2004, the global economic slowdown in 2009, and some more geopolitical issues. It took months and years for the industry to revive again but yes, it did, as the traveler wanted to do what he loved most- TRAVEL!

However, in the case of Covid-19 pandemic, the backbone of TRAVEL has been shaken - the confidence of a traveler and it will take some time to recover even after the pandemic is contained. This is worsened by the economic slowdown and liquidity crunch in the country topped by safety and hygiene concerns related to travel now. But yes, slowly and steadily, TRAVEL will revive. Time is the best healer.

Countries, where the spread of Covid-19 has slowed down already and their respective governments will lift restrictions of lockdowns and air travel will be back on track soon. They will have more clarity on their economic situations and therefore gain traveler confidence once travel boosting measures are in place. In my opinion, countries such as Thailand, UAE, Indonesia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka will be favorable to travel as they have been able to contain the spread of the virus on a large extent. Destinations like Thailand and Dubai have already started promoting their destinations as safe and ready to travel. Thailand Tourism is the forerunner amongst this and I see Thailand will be one of the first countries to start having MICE visitors from India along with UAE and the rest of South East Asia.

In my opinion, once the impact of COVID-19 will slow down and destinations start opening up for travel, Social Events including weddings, staycations will start soon and so will be Business Travel, Domestic Meetings & Incentives, Conferences and Corporate Events. However, outbound and inbound Leisure Travel will pick up slowly as compared to the M.I.C.E business.

Talking about revival, the Inbound Leisure segment will be the most affected segment in India as one of the biggest markets of this segment is Europe which has been badly hit due to the virus spread. Countries such as Spain, Italy, France, United Kingdom, and more have witnessed slowdown in their economies which will affect their travel plans. Long Haul Travel to countries like India will not be their priority in the near future. We do not foresee a good inbound tourist season this year starting October onwards.

The outbound tourism business from India came to a halt in early March following decision on stopping passenger flights to contain the spread of the virus. Once India lifts outbound airline operating restrictions, measures will have to be in place by the Destinations and other stakeholders like DMC’s, airlines and hotels who should unite to form a framework on how to get people to travel again. Destinations need to start safety marketing campaigns to lure travelers and gain their confidence that it is safe to travel in their destination and required precautionary measures are in place for safe travel.  Along with airlines and hotels, destinations should start FAM trips with key clients, travel influencers to assure them that it is indeed safe to travel and safety and hygiene of the customer is well taken care of. Influencer marketing techniques should be utilized to promote their destination.

The industry associations should also collaborate with various government agencies responsible to promote the destination to restore faith in travelling amongst people. New systems and policies will have to be bought forward since now future travelling norms will be bit different and we need to be prepared for how things are changing across the globe.

All I want to say to my fellow readers and the fraternity in the travel and tourism business, this halt on travel is only short term. Travelling is in our genes, it is addictive and it is contagious. People who have a passion for travel, will start travelling again once lockdown starts opening up, just with a new mindset, new reason, new desire and new hopes. We will quickly survive, revive and thrive. We just need to be positive now and wait with open hearts to travel the world again.