4 fundamentals to channelise the business in crisis

Tourism is going through the biggest crisis in history due to the impact of the COVID-19 and the damage caused by the pandemic is known to us, but the biggest question is what next? Post-pandemic there will be a massive transformation and that needs a better industry understanding to survive with the changing scenario in the days to come. Let’s find out the four key factors for a basic understanding of how to restructure our existing travel business strategy.

Debjit Dutta, Director & CEO, Impression Tours & Services and Chairman IATO & ADTOI Chapters

What comes after the crisis? You plan something new or review the existing resources. There is a big bottleneck; there has been less initiative taken in regards to the assessment of the damages caused because of the pandemic especially at the grass route level which is certainly more unorganized and challenging. The fact is without the assessment, we wouldn’t be able to plan and restructure, and very little effort has been made by the industry to take care of the damage.

For a better understanding, I have categorised the opportunities into four basic categories:

Review 

Crisis Management: This pandemic has offered us a viable period to review. Many are out of the business and, the most affected are the grass-roots stakeholders such as guides, naturalists, taxi drivers and other on ground human resources who may have shifted their profession.

What we are going to be selling is based on two factors:

i) Your existing resources 

ii) A detailed analysis of the change in market trends to assess the future demand.

If the market trend changes, the demand will change and therefore, one has to analyse those demands and redo the infrastructure management and which demand they can cater to. 

Reset

Be The Change: When you review your existing resources, the industry needs to understand the transformations that took place because of the impact of the COVID. Once you understand the transformation; you accordingly will reset your resources concerning the transformation.

Restructure 

Product Discovery and upskilling: Once you understand the changing market trends and demand, you will need to rearrange yourself. Looking at the demand, one needs to pay attention to what products will be selling, is there an adequate human resource to deliver the service at the ground level. The restructuring comes along with a lot of infrastructural changes, skill development initiatives, so that you ensure that the products you are planning to sell in the specific source market have the required infrastructure and skill human resources.

Revive

 Visit 2025: We need a long-term vision. Since it is a new beginning, there should be a new strategy for five years to revive the business. Vision 2025 is important for the long-term recovery of the business. 

The industry needs to follow these four steps, without which I believe we won’t be able to revive in the right direction or sustain in the future. There are other factors as well which need a better understanding such as sustainability, understanding the changing scenario.