Coronavirus: A Game-changer in the Tourism Industry (A Follow-up Article)

Originally posted December 30, 2020

The number of destinations closed to international tourism has continued to decrease. 

According to the eighth edition of the UNWTO Travel Restrictions Report as of December 2, 2020, 70% of all global destinations have eased restrictions on travel introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That means just one in four destinations continue to keep their borders completely closed to international tourists.

This is good news as the industry starts its way to recovery. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “The lifting of travel restrictions is essential to drive our wider recovery from the social and economic impacts of the pandemic.”

The travel and tourism industry has been at a standstill, being the most affected sector with a massive fall of international demand amid global travel restrictions including many borders fully closed, to contain the virus. The October issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer reports that international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) declined 70% in January-August 2020 over the same period of last year, amid COVID.

In an article released at the start of the pandemic, we explained how Coronavirus is going to be a game-changer in the industry. The world has been caught off-guard by the virus, and it has taught us a lot when it comes to the way we do things. In such a game, the true winners are those who have used the learning as their call to optimise their businesses and be fully geared up for the post corona word.

A Closer Look to the Situation

Aside from the obvious financial impact of the virus on business, another serious problem it has bought upon is the loss of many employees. In the ecosystem of travel, at this stage, businesses are lacking staff, either because of retrenchment or employee resignation due to salary issues. As such, many companies have opted to adopt technology systems to cover the loss of professional staff.

This all the more presses the need for an efficient solution that can streamline the business, ease and improve communication through the system digital connection, and gives access to an online platform of suppliers of services. 

One example is turpal, an AI-driven ecosystem for service providers at the destination who are handling the third largest sector of the global travel industry. This powerful technology solution streamlines operation and reduces cost through optimising resource utilization, increases revenue by upselling and cross-selling while bringing the whole offering under one roof of a marketplace on a large scale, and provides an entirely new lens on their traveller’s preferences and interests.

Investing in Tech Solution

Upgrading to a tech solution is worth the investment as it leads to optimised services, increased customer satisfaction, and more importantly, profitability.