Travelmole Guest Comment: 10-point plan for recovery of travel and tourism sector

Crisis management specialist Dr David Beirman outlines what the travel and tourism industry must do to overcome the global economic crisis.

“The Global economic crisis at present finds tourism vulnerable and groping for answers. Yet as an industry the global tourism industry has demonstrated an increasing capacity to overcome crisis events.

It’s a positive move that the UN World Tourism Organisation is looking at developing a confidence boosting plan. I’m not certain which crisis management specialists they will co-opt but I am going to take the liberty of foreshadowing a 10-point plan for the consideration of the UNWTO and in fact all tourism professionals.

There are several outstanding crisis management strategy models, which have succeeded in the global tourism industry. The outstanding benchmark was PATA’s Project Phoenix which led to the recovery of the Asia Pacific tourism industry in 2003 following the outbreak of SARS.

The UNWTO’s plan for recovery after the India Ocean Tsunami contained many positive elements.

Other recovery programmes such as Fiji’s (Tourism Action Group), in which the leaders of all sectors of Fiji’s tourism industry mobilised for recovery after the coups of and coup attempts of 1987, 2000 and 2006, shows that a unified industry approach can succeed admirably for an individual country.

At the heart of this particular crisis is the concern of all tourism industry professionals that because tourism is widely perceived as a predominantly discretionary expense people will stop spending money on tourism in an uncertain economic environment.

There is also a concern that people will spend less on tourism in during uncertain times. The restoration of confidence and preparedness to maintain the tourism business must begin at the perceptual and psychological level.

Here’s what I recommend:

1. A campaign involving all the tourism industry and media partners to enhance the concept that travel and tourism is an essential part of maintaining our wellbeing, no less than food shelter and education. Tourism and leisure should be depicted as a better investment in our wellbeing that stocks and shares.

As was the case with PATA’s 2003 Project Phoenix the media must be a partner in talking up tourism. To date they are actively spreading gloom, doom and panic. Tourism can be depicted as a positive investment because unlike stocks, shares and superannuation you can see, feel, and experience what you get for your money. The industry should seek sponsorship from businesses such as Visa and MasterCard, which benefit so greatly from the tourism dollar.

2. There must be focus on value tourism product. It should be axiomatic that high priced indulgent tourism and hospitality product will experience a fall in demand so travellers will need to be convinced of value and security in tourism product.

3. Destinations, hoteliers, airlines, Cruise operators, land transport providers tour operators and attractions all need, in concert, to incentivise people to travel and NOW. Where possible, rather than offer economically unsustainable discounts, attractive value added deals are the way to go and air fares combined with add-on land product will offer perceived value for money.

4. All businesses must focus on stressing value for their customers. This means they will have to trim any excess fat in their operating costs so they can maintain competitiveness. Rather than just fire staff, some smart deployment of staff with improved selling and marketing training may be a better solution that irreversible sackings. Negotiations between principles and buyers of bulk tourism product should be considerate of fluctuating exchange rates.

5. Tourism should have a solidarity message which implies that tourism maintains jobs and the viability of communities all over the world. Opting out of tourism actually would worsen the economic outlook of the world. Travel keeps the world ticking.

6. On a global level, all the major organisations which work for the industry should and must work in concert. There is no time for egos and petty rivalries in a situation in which our entire industry faces a common global threat.

The leadership of hotels, travel agents, wholesalers, airlines, national tourist offices, cruise operators, land transport providers need to work together. WTTC. UNWTO, PATA, IHRA, IATA , UFTA and other worldwide industry bodies need to establish a summit and quickly.

7. Governments have been bailing out banks and some of the irresponsible financial institutions which were responsible for the economic mess we managed to get into.

Governments can greatly help the tourism industry in their own countries and globally by reducing a range of dubious taxes which have contributed to increasing the cost of international air travel. This is a primary goal. Governments must be integral partners in restoring tourism as they are in other sectors of the economy.

8. Governments can and should be heavily lobbied to contribute to a global fund administered by the UN WTO in consultation with other major global tourism organizations, which would promote tourism globally in partnership with the media. Websites of tourism associations and individual tourism businesses need to talk up tourism.

9. An education campaign pitched at travel agents and all front-line travel professionals need to be developed so that all industry professionals are able to talk up tourism and hospitality to their customers. The involvement of the training and education sectors is vital to both train and provide ongoing performance monitoring and market research at this critical juncture.

10. In each country or region, celebrities should be solicited to talk up tourism whether it is domestic or international tourism. We need to make people understand that globally tourism represents 8% of GDP and if tourism collapses the unemployment lines will grow longer.

On a positive note, travel and tourism is good for the economy and there is a key link between tourism and poverty alleviation.

At every stage of this campaign the industry must maintain its commitments to economic, social and environmental sustainability all of which depend on tourism being maintained.”