ravel is the lifeblood of a vibrant civilization. The exploration of new cultures, customs, cuisines, and ecosystems brings about the exchange of ideas as well as helping us develop mutual respect and growth—as individuals and as communities. Traveling celebrates the striking wonders of our differences, while reminding us of our shared heritage and similarities as humans—always staying curious and exploring.
Travel is a linchpin of modern society, empowering international relations, global commerce, and diplomacy. Furthermore travel—be it for leisure or business purposes—is an essential economic industry in and of itself. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, travel and tourism in 2019 contributed $8.9 trillion to the world’s GDP, or 10.3% of global GDP. Travel and tourism also provided 330 million jobs—or 1 in 10 jobs—around the world. Travel and tourism sectors continued to grow in 2019, according to the WTTC, “reinforcing its role as a driver of economic growth and job creation.”
Lockdown procedures implemented around the world to fight COVID-19 have restricted global and domestic travel, impacting every sector, especially the travel and hospitality sectors. According to U.S. Travel Association, among those who traveled by commercial airline in the summer of 2020, just more than half (53%) said they felt unsafe traveling amid COVID-19. A recent McKinsey study concluded that travel will return, but that the rate of recovery will vary by industries—“business and leisure travel will return at different paces, as will domestic and international travel. What’s certain is that the next normal will be marked by structural shifts, especially around customer expectations for hygiene and flexibility.”
Listen and Innovate
To stay agile and adapt to these changing expectations around travel and hospitality, governments and companies must first listen to their stakeholders. Start by identifying what these stakeholders are asking for, then look for opportunities to leverage and places to grow—together. Two articles featured in this bookazine do just that by exploring how two popular seaside destinations in the UK and France adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and sharing what online discourse reveals about tourism resiliency. Research suggests that to establish long-term resilience, it is critical to normalize safety rules, create more engaging and creative communication, fund and promote public-private partnerships, and think outside the box by taking chances on innovative initiatives.
The structural shifts caused by the global pandemic can act as a prompt for the travel and hospitality sectors to really listen to stakeholders and more quickly address preexisting, interconnected concerns impacting the sectors, particularly environmental consciousness and sustainability. COVID-19 has affected not only where people travel, but how people travel—locally, domestically, and internationally. This changing psychology has revitalized certain aspects of traveling—such as personal car ownership—and is opening opportunities for other relatively new industries—such as micromobility and electronic vehicles. The rising interest in personal modes of transportation introduces renewed opportunities for government and companies to research and develop innovative, sustainable, and hygienic solutions for the future.
These same solutions can also help the ongoing revolution in how goods are transported—across seas, continents, or just to the other side of town. With fewer people venturing outside of their homes, there is an escalating consumer demand for greener, faster, smarter, and safer delivery of goods with minimal personal contact. Automated freight transportation technology may become the norm and redefine how companies and governments maintain healthy global commerce in an age plagued by a pandemic and catastrophic effects of global warming.
Great Innovations, Great Risks
All this is not to say that the solutions won’t have their own challenges; with great innovations come great risks. For example, the increasing need for smart solutions also mean there is an increasing need for access to and use of personal data. Contact tracing, for one, is an essential tool in fighting the spread of COVID-19, but it also requires tracking of activities and locations traveled by individuals. Although technological solutions exist to implement contact tracing procedures—and some countries around the world have already deployed such measures—privacy and security concerns may limit mass global adoption.
2020 truly feels like a new frontier, shrouded with dangers and uncertainties around every corner. But, to stay resilient through the pandemic and come back stronger, one thing is clear: we must do it together. We must consider how the pandemic has impacted all of us. It has uncovered systemic fractures that have disrupted peoples’ daily lives across the globe, and we must approach building inclusive and forward-looking solutions together. This starts by listening—to all stakeholders—and working together, bridging differences for the sake of mutual progress and advancement.
The COVID-19 pandemic knows no borders or differences between people—neither should the solutions. Resilience comes from unity and together, as a global community, we will defeat the global pandemic. I hope you enjoy reading the bookazine.
a global affairs media network
Resilience Through Unity: The New Frontier of Travel and Hospitality
Photo by Ian Dooley via Unsplash.
November 9, 2020
T
ravel is the lifeblood of a vibrant civilization. The exploration of new cultures, customs, cuisines, and ecosystems brings about the exchange of ideas as well as helping us develop mutual respect and growth—as individuals and as communities. Traveling celebrates the striking wonders of our differences, while reminding us of our shared heritage and similarities as humans—always staying curious and exploring.
Travel is a linchpin of modern society, empowering international relations, global commerce, and diplomacy. Furthermore travel—be it for leisure or business purposes—is an essential economic industry in and of itself. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, travel and tourism in 2019 contributed $8.9 trillion to the world’s GDP, or 10.3% of global GDP. Travel and tourism also provided 330 million jobs—or 1 in 10 jobs—around the world. Travel and tourism sectors continued to grow in 2019, according to the WTTC, “reinforcing its role as a driver of economic growth and job creation.”
Lockdown procedures implemented around the world to fight COVID-19 have restricted global and domestic travel, impacting every sector, especially the travel and hospitality sectors. According to U.S. Travel Association, among those who traveled by commercial airline in the summer of 2020, just more than half (53%) said they felt unsafe traveling amid COVID-19. A recent McKinsey study concluded that travel will return, but that the rate of recovery will vary by industries—“business and leisure travel will return at different paces, as will domestic and international travel. What’s certain is that the next normal will be marked by structural shifts, especially around customer expectations for hygiene and flexibility.”
Listen and Innovate
To stay agile and adapt to these changing expectations around travel and hospitality, governments and companies must first listen to their stakeholders. Start by identifying what these stakeholders are asking for, then look for opportunities to leverage and places to grow—together. Two articles featured in this bookazine do just that by exploring how two popular seaside destinations in the UK and France adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and sharing what online discourse reveals about tourism resiliency. Research suggests that to establish long-term resilience, it is critical to normalize safety rules, create more engaging and creative communication, fund and promote public-private partnerships, and think outside the box by taking chances on innovative initiatives.
The structural shifts caused by the global pandemic can act as a prompt for the travel and hospitality sectors to really listen to stakeholders and more quickly address preexisting, interconnected concerns impacting the sectors, particularly environmental consciousness and sustainability. COVID-19 has affected not only where people travel, but how people travel—locally, domestically, and internationally. This changing psychology has revitalized certain aspects of traveling—such as personal car ownership—and is opening opportunities for other relatively new industries—such as micromobility and electronic vehicles. The rising interest in personal modes of transportation introduces renewed opportunities for government and companies to research and develop innovative, sustainable, and hygienic solutions for the future.
These same solutions can also help the ongoing revolution in how goods are transported—across seas, continents, or just to the other side of town. With fewer people venturing outside of their homes, there is an escalating consumer demand for greener, faster, smarter, and safer delivery of goods with minimal personal contact. Automated freight transportation technology may become the norm and redefine how companies and governments maintain healthy global commerce in an age plagued by a pandemic and catastrophic effects of global warming.
Great Innovations, Great Risks
All this is not to say that the solutions won’t have their own challenges; with great innovations come great risks. For example, the increasing need for smart solutions also mean there is an increasing need for access to and use of personal data. Contact tracing, for one, is an essential tool in fighting the spread of COVID-19, but it also requires tracking of activities and locations traveled by individuals. Although technological solutions exist to implement contact tracing procedures—and some countries around the world have already deployed such measures—privacy and security concerns may limit mass global adoption.
2020 truly feels like a new frontier, shrouded with dangers and uncertainties around every corner. But, to stay resilient through the pandemic and come back stronger, one thing is clear: we must do it together. We must consider how the pandemic has impacted all of us. It has uncovered systemic fractures that have disrupted peoples’ daily lives across the globe, and we must approach building inclusive and forward-looking solutions together. This starts by listening—to all stakeholders—and working together, bridging differences for the sake of mutual progress and advancement.
The COVID-19 pandemic knows no borders or differences between people—neither should the solutions. Resilience comes from unity and together, as a global community, we will defeat the global pandemic. I hope you enjoy reading the bookazine.
