The Good News in Tourism Is….

We all know that the tourism industry took massive doses of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Planes literally became immobile giant chess pieces on the runways. Resorts and hotels became empty, businesses closed or are still aimlessly flailing. From a confident few months of projected slowdown, the situation degenerated to almost a year of absolute stoppage where emergency funds dried up and jobs terminated. The tourism industry could only gasp and hold on to the lifeline called hope, and that its stakeholders could last longer than the virus.

Everybody would think that the good news is the vaccine. Well, that is half true. If we think harder, the normalization of the industry could come sooner than previously and hopelessly expected. 

 A common situation is that only the rich or fast-moving countries will get the major supply of the vaccines. And there are many other countries that are left in the margins with questionable chances to procure that lifesaver for their people.

 I bet you know at least one country in that situation. 

But the good news is that NOT everybody needs to be vaccinated. Just keep your eyes on the ball. We’re talking tourism here.

As soon as source countries of international travelers achieve their targets for inoculation, their people will then have the confidence to travel. And it would not matter if their destinations could not take care of their own people. Those foreign travelers will be safe, anyways. Think of yellow fever (Just google it. Trust me, it’s easy).

 Sooner or later, the global supply of vaccines will stabilize. Laboratories are easy to set up and the supply chain is already in place (and yes, I’m also crossing my fingers here). It won’t be years, but rather months of difference between the first countries who get the initial vaccine supply and the next in line for the fresh supply.

 And that is the good news. Even if a destination country lags behind in its vaccination program, the international travel market might be ready for the snapback in just a few months once the vaccines are distributed.

So, plans and programs must be drawn this early to recover the international arrivals. Do not lose this clear opportunity, lest other countries hungry to resuscitate their hospitality sector might get the initial wave of travelers.

 And….. pray that the vaccines would actually work or not get politicized. We now know how things are, don’t we?

 However, the domestic market which usually constitutes 70-90 percent of the travel market in many countries, is a different story.

 Let me know if you want a discussion on the recovery of the domestic market.