The aftermath of COVID 19 in the tourism sector goes beyond the cancellation of flights and hotel bookings. The sensible loses and setbacks of COVID-19 continue and around the world, the pandemic makes a rapid shift in the daily life to lockdowns as well as remote working and digitization has been paramount during these unprecedented days. However, 90% of the global population adjusted to life under travel restrictions.
In the wake of COVID-19, The Future of Travel & Tourism demands the need for the readiness of destination, as the evolution in consumers priorities to adopt new protocols for health and safety measures to keep up. This new normal makes an evolution in Traveller preferences which shifts towards the familiar and trusted. Health, Hygiene, safety, and trust are paramount in this new phase.
COVID-19 and lockdown make themselves an unexpected catalyst in all walks of life’s quest for innovation and the integration of new technologies. In Travel & Tourism scenario customers are happier with contactless technologies for a safe and seamless travel experience.
As the tourism industry goes through a dramatic period and many become unemployed or displaced and due to the economic downturn it is difficult for them to find employment in other sectors or industries. The share of female employment in the tourism sector is high.
It will take another one more year for the international tourism sector to return to pre-pandemic levels. People are in a state of fear, anxiety, and insecurity for a long time and it will further extend until the time of reinstatement of the tourism industry. All sectors of the economies reliant on tourism are negatively affected Governments should protect the lives and livelihoods of workers in this sector around the world.
Since tourism is a labor-intensive sector, In this time of recovery jobs in the tourism sector requires strong support at both levels nationally and Internationally and need to ensure; support measures should be simple and accessible to all and reaches the real economy. Along the recovery road Horizontal and vertical cooperation of National, regional and local governments and public-private partnerships are critical.
All measures and recovery plans should be aligned with the SDGs and 2030 Agenda. It is better to make a roadmap to respond to future shocks for the resilience of the tourism Industry through the lessons from this pandemic.
As governance is the key at the time of any crisis worldwide all countries are now prioritizing domestic tourism to prepare and adopt Travel in new normal. Public-private partnerships will be encouraged as a model of survival. Initiatives and specific products in areas like adventure, wellness, ecotourism, cultural and gastronomy tourism, and rural tourism should be more projected as part of confidence retrieval. New promotional campaigns through digital and social media promotion efforts are other marketing strategies by most destinations.
The road ahead may appear uncertain and it is time to restore the confidence.
Editor
Rajani. A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDwqC0ivfD4&t=1s
https://tourismindiaonline.com/unwto-brings-tourism-sector-together-to-plan-for-the-future/