With Planet Earth in lockdown, our industry at a standstill and many of us in self-isolation or quarantine at home, or grounded, we thought we needed to find a way to share stories within our community, to form solidarity and foster a sense of belonging.
Short essays on what we are each doing, how we are getting through this darkest hour in travel, how are we handling withdrawal symptoms from travel, what we intend to do with this down time, a word we want to focus on, a wish we have or simply, an important topic you want to share with your travel friends at this time.
Blanca Menchaca, CEO & founder, BeMyGuest
What we have been doing
What extraordinary times we find ourselves in. Not just the travel industry but the world at large. We all know that tourism is the first industry to be impacted by any glitch in the matrix, whether it be political tensions, natural disasters, economic factors; it’s an hyperaesthetic industry we live in.
In our own business we reacted very quickly to the situation in January as the avalanche of cancellation requests began pouring through from our partners, to support them and our operators with clear and regular communications. Although the full extent or period of duration of Covid-19 is still unknown, we immediately knew we had to adapt.
Springing into action our tech team developed tools for our Agent’s Marketplace to facilitate and automate the process of booking cancellations and refunds, freeing up resources for both our partners and our customer service team to focus on travellers and deliver efficient customer care. Our focus is as it always was, to continue developing technology solutions in support of Asia’s travel experience sector.
The key right now is to evolve. Use this time as an opportunity to refocus your direction and automate your business so when the industry is revived you come out better than before.
It’s time to take a breath, being ‘too busy’ is no longer a credible excuse. This enforced reset, while admittedly an extremely difficult time from a revenue point of view, can also be incredibly beneficial in the long run. Without it we’d not have the opportunity to make changes, implement improvements and refresh our outlooks.
The Passion Thing: Reinvention
In March each year, Bali celebrates Silent Day, known as Nyepi. For 24 hours the entire island shuts down. It’s mandatory to remain indoors, make no noise, cook or have lights on when darkness descends. This applies to hotels also, and they have to dim or turn off lights and ensure guests remain on the property, and it’s also the only time anywhere in the world that an airport completely shuts down for a day. The government also blocks the Internet and satellite TV. It’s an incredibly peaceful time.
The island’s Hindus use this time to meditate, reflect and reassess. It’s an incredibly unique experience to be the only place in all the world that is entirely still, dark and quiet, and it’s difficult to imagine any other city or destination that can just come to a complete halt the way that Bali does.
Yet here we are.
As we find our industry in an enforced lockdown I would encourage us all to do the same. Reflect, reassess and come out the other side prepared, ready to face a brave new tourism world.
This event has already altered the tourism ecosystem as we know it, the most impacting disruptor most of us have ever encountered. As much as this industry loves a good disruption, this is not at all what we had in mind.
In saying that, a post-Covid era provides the potential for reinvention. As difficult as it is right now to visualise the positives, think of it as a giant renovation of our travel industry house.
Note: We will be running this blog for as long as we need to, to get us through this. If you wish to contribute, please send your essays to Siew Hoon. Send images too, it’s your story.
• Featured image credit (Nyepi in Bali): Hakan Nural on Unsplash