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The tourism sector is one of the world's economic engines and in 2019 it represented 10.4% of the world economy, with 319 million jobs according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). It is at the same time one of the most sensitive to natural disasters, attacks, social revolts and pandemics.
The crisis caused by Covid-19 is not the first nor will it be the last for the sector. After having gone through the Gulf War, 9/11, the eruption of various volcanoes, the SARS virus and a long list of adversities in recent years, the tourism industry has experience in handling crisis situations and All of them have come out more reinforced .
Just remember what security measures were like at airports before the 9/11 attacks and the impact of the start of exhaustive controls when flying: taking off shoes and belts, separating liquids from hand luggage, place computers and electronic devices in separate trays, apply for electronic visas and pass customs controls where, in addition to a fingerprint, we are photographed and interrogated ...
Today all this seems normal to us and has already become a routine, arising from the need to increase the safety of those who travel and accepted by all as a necessary evil.
GLOBAL CRISIS
But tourism has never before been affected by a crisis that impacts the entire planet and all layers of the industry: airlines, travel agencies, hotels, web portals, car rental companies, receptives, companies based on the economy. collaborative ...
But as on other occasions, the sector is already moving to anticipate new scenarios with the aim of being able to offer travelers new security needs.
Both airports and airlines already have sufficient technology , and both ground staff and airlines are used to implementing security control systems in a simple and coordinated way worldwide. In China, a health certificate is already being applied through mobile phones, with a QR code . With a simple medical test we could obtain a digital certificate to travel in the post-Covid-19 era.
MAXIMUM HYGIENE IN HOTELS
The accommodations will implement new and stricter hygiene measures, making them a differentiating factor. The Marriott group, for example, has already announced that it will use electrostatic sprays with hospital disinfectants as well as the rearrangement of common areas in order to promote the maintenance of social distance.
Also travel insurance charge is particularly important in an environment subject to possible flare - ups and closures temporary borders. Insurance companies will see it as the opportunity to offer adapted products to cover new risks in a market that will be very willing to pay a little more in exchange for greater peace of mind.
The travel agencies and the figure of the agent will be more important as a guarantee of security. Organizing a trip independently or improvising it at the final destination will be, in the short term, a risky option. As has been seen recently, trying to recover the money paid on web portals in destination countries is being an impossible task.
Travel agencies will adapt to incorporate 24-hour customer services , also during the weekend. Its cancellation conditions will be made more flexible as the guarantee that the client and their money are covered in the event of a new emergency will become increasingly important. To this end, the contracts signed between the agency and the service delivery user will evolve to reflect in greater detail and clarity the conditions and risks covered. Maybe finally that small print will get bigger.
In addition, in front of traveler forums and other informal information channels, travel agencies will be more informed about the situation in each country to better advise the client. Perhaps we might venture to think, although it is still early days for this, that the decision criteria on what our next trip will be will no longer be the destination, but rather the recommendation and reputation of the agency itself as experts and the last legal responsible for our trip.
The agencies that have already specialized for years in the realization of tailor-made trips and have in their way of working all these incorporated processes, will be the first to be able to meet a demand that will require greater personalization, knowledge, security and service. Because we will travel again. In a different way, but also more secure.
* Gonzalo Gimeno , author of this opinion piece, is CEO of the bespoke travel agency Elefant Travel with offices in Madrid, Barcelona and Bogotá.
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