TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
The COVID-19 pandemic has ensured that implementation of health and safety standards has become the new way forward whether it is a destination, attraction, eatery or wellness escape. SanJeet, Managing Director, DDP Group spoke with some of the industry experts about the future post COVID-19.
Beverly Au Yong, Area Director (Middle East) International Group – Singapore Tourism Board
These are unprecedented times for lot of us, it’s the largest challenge we have gone through for Singapore but at the same time I think it is exciting to see the new changes and the new norms for everyone. It is a time that we really need to sit back, reset and relook at the things we were doing in the past.
What happens now going forward; have we lost the year 2020? What are you going to look at in 2021 in light of the new post COVID and living with COVID?
COVID is here to stay and I don’t think that it is going to go away anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean that we stop everything. I think our tourism industry has always been very resilient and recreated and this is really the time to come through and show how we can pull through the year. These will be exciting times, we have to deal with it and how to deal with it is something everyone is asking today. Current pandemic has created hygiene factors like cleanliness to come up very strongly as it was mostly ignored in the past but now when it comes to a destination or purchase, the decision will totally rely on hygiene and safety. In terms of strategy we are instilling confidence in the audience so this is something we are working on strongly, specifically for the Middle East market, they have always been digitally savvy, everyone has everything on the phone so our market focus will be based on the digital side. Apart from that Middle East has key opinion leaders and influencers, this is another strategy we use and we leverage on technology to engage people online, partnering with consumer brands and keeping everyone engaged.
Social distancing practices
I think this is done all over the world now, not only in Singapore, this has impacted the way people do business and we as consumers in how we interact with people. It is definitely typing up with the hygiene, health and safety issues, largely we see that people will avoid peak travel periods and will travel in smaller groups than before. We can see these changes, they are going to avoid crowds and go and explore less crowded areas. Things will change a lot. The industry will take some time to resume, during this time we can re-innovate to ensure efficiency taking into consideration safety measures. As consumers or people it goes both ways, depends on which business you are in as well.
When will you start cruising again in Singapore?
Cruise in Singapore was affected earlier same as amusement parks, restaurants all were hit early so we have started an accreditation campaign so that it helps build confidence for both consumers and business. Cruise will resume soon. I believe it depends on the bilateral agreements between the countries, it will might happen soon but when we open our borders, it will be the time you will see some movements. For Singapore, we are taking this and opening up the country, we are now in phase 1 in June and for phase 2 a date is to be fixed yet. Middle East has always been a very lucrative market as you see Saudi is opening up so Middle East standards are high, business travellers will also come up, individual travellers, female travellers and others will gradually begin.
Will travel be more expensive?
I think the price will be balanced. We are working with the airlines as a government and believe that it will work out well.
Will there be any incentives for travel trade?
Partnership has been an integral part of the Singapore Tourism Board. In fact right now and even before COVID, we have increased funding to the trade and it has strengthened our partnerships and we will not stop, hence we will reach out even to partners of the partners, extending as much as we can. We are actually looking at more partnerships and reaching out to more customers so that is what we are looking at. We even teamed up with one of the iconic nightclubs in Singapore and we looking at a virtual party bringing in international concert with virtual reality to recreate and redefine with all our partners.
Beverly Au Yong, an experienced marketer and BD professional, has worked across multiple disciplines ranging from consumer products to legal and tourism. She held the position of Area Director for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia before moving to Dubai to cover the Middle East and Turkey markets. Her most exciting projects while in STB include the production of a reality TV show and organising the first Singapore Festival in Moscow which involved more than 60 partners from Singapore and more than 25,000 visitors over two days.
Daks Gonzales, Head – Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) for the Middle East Market
I want to thank for the vision to extend positive insights and the chance to continue to a way forward through these tough and challenging times that our beloved tourism industry is in, but I am confident that
collectively we will be able to achieve the results we desire.
What happens as we now go forward; have we lost the year 2020? What are you going to look at 2021 in light of the new post COVID and living with COVID? And what will be your new marketing strategy?
We don’t believe that the year 2020 has ended, we strongly believe that there is hope to recover sometime very soon before the end of the year. There are very strong indications from the market that we will be looking forward to.
This scenario is actually very ideal for the so called armchair generals, they really love this. We have to all go back to our drawing boards and the truth is that we simply have to answer the four W’s – who, what, where and why and how. The key is to go into focus marketing and to work through partnerships, my stakeholders believe that this will lead to ultimate efficiency in driving results, so yes the mood is still very positive for a recovery within 2020.
Will the strategies for 2021 be the same or different?
The two things will be the same, as I mentioned earlier it is putting more emphasis on focus marketing identifying your W’s and your H’s and the two sides haven’t changed through trade and through social media. Our communication strategies will have to change and evolve and this is something that will keep us always on our toes. For example, what we are communicating right now in marketing ‘dream and wake up in the Philippines’ that is the current message but we are ready to look forward with new ones next week and in a couple of months, when the time is right. We have to always be on our toes and look into the state of development.
Social distancing
Social distancing is something we have to oblige for our clients. In the case of Philippines, there are stakeholders who are very much prepared to provide the service for this kind of clients. The second is that we are looking forward to the regulators and we are following them. Philippines have some unique places when it comes to beaches for example Boracay islands which already reduced its capacity even before COVID-19. It was and remains to be COVID-free, the groups of islands named Palawan in the Philippines is a green zone and for other destinations everyone is kept busy in capacity building it as per the new norm. Even in other parts of ASEAN are all preparing to adapt to the new rules and regulations social distancing and this will be further practiced when opened. The industry is putting these up as soon as it starts.
When do you expect the first wave of ME tourists to come to the Philippines?
Our market based stakeholders have already shared that over 70 percent of their clients are looking into travel arrangements and that is a very positive sign. So as soon as regulations are in place and supply chain is starting, I’m sure there is going to be an announcement. So both residents and locals are looking at booking, so the moment it opens they will be travelling.
Any thoughts on pricing in travel?
It will be going both ways. There might be strict social distancing so my stakeholders will have clients who prefer social distancing but there can be another segment that will bargain for it, certain stakeholders are prepared to service that market as well. The ball is on the side of the airlines, so the cost will drastically have an effect on the cost of a package holiday. On other services like accommodation will be ready to flex depending on what the client is looking for, all segments will have a different way to look at.
Working with private sector is important, any incentives offered to them?
Part of the key strategy is partnership, so we are constantly in touch with our market stakeholders and together currently with our Philippines stakeholders we are providing them with regular updates and positive developments. This initiative started even before the COVID situation, our partners on the onset in terms of the partnership has strengthened with local Philippine stakeholders and we work together with them in a positive way. As soon as the regulator of supply chains starts working, all will fall in to place. We are very strong on partnerships as we constantly engage with them. We will be working with the trade and consumer; these are the partnerships we are looking at and we are trying to constantly updating the 4 W’s so these are the combinations we are looking at present. Personalised service clients is another segment we focus on and we are prepared to provide services necessary to generat commitment from our partners to personalise the experience.
Daks Gonzales is the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT), Head, for the Middle East Market. He has previously served as Head of DOT offices in Europe and Boards of various international tourism organisations.
Nandini Lahe-Thapa, Senior Director at the Nepal Tourism Board is Head of the International Marketing and Promotion Dept.
COVID has unleashed globally and the whole world is affected by it. For Nepal, tourism is one of the most important industries and this pandemic has set the industry back but as a tourism board we are lobbying with the government to come up with packages for the trade.
We are also working very hard on recovery and revival strategies, so that is what we have been busy with and the new normal when destinations open up, it will no longer be the unique place to visit but the health, hygiene and sanitation protocols a destination has in place at every level of your travel; that is something we have been focusing on and we just completed a draft which started out as a small document but now it has become huge and very practical document with inputs from many of the trade experts. This document is very important as everyone in the trade will read it carefully so that they will be well aware of the new norms and share this knowledge with their staff and the customers as well. We are using this opportunity to promote environmental and sustainable tourism, so that’s what we have been focusing on.
What are you going to look at in 2021 in light of the new post COVID and living with COVID?
Tourism is a major part of Nepal and currently we are looking at a recovery strategy that will work well for us. We are focusing on the domestic market over the next few months, then regional markets like India, China and the Middle East. We are really well connected with the Middle East and it is a very important source market for us.
When we talk about the Middle East, we have divided them into three groups – one is market per say locals, expat market is divided to two long haul and the Indian expats that live there, Philippines, Singapore coming into get away. Indians living there sending their parents to Nepal this is another market and the locals from Middle East. They need 7-star facilities, so we are looking at the niche market as well, and surprisingly numbers may not be huge but we are trying our best to focus on adventure and mountaineering destination for Middle East adventure and thrill seekers.
We have now come up with a 75-paged document over the past few weeks featuring every segment of the travel industry starting with the airport, transportation, hotels, restaurants, tour operators, travel or rafting companies, tour or adventure companies and we have a tourism think tank so at the end of the day we have to give it to them and literally we have included all segments and sent across to them. This will be the new bible for the travel and tourism industry. Second phase will be the opening , it depends on how many can fly in terms of capacity like 10-seater, how many passengers can be accommodated safely with the social distancing regulations etc, so this protocol is being prepared now.
Will there be a change in price?
There will definitely be a price change, though when it comes to travel agents to attract customers, the realistic cost is passed on to the customers. They need to invest on their sanitisers and other safety protocols so until the
things start looking more stable the pricing will be a problem as it will be a more realistic approach.
Any incentives for the trade?
We are collaborating with the trade and airlines so we are looking at working closely to ensure a good partnership. Middle East is an untapped market for us so we are definitely making sure to have a good partnership. We are reaching out stronger than before and our subtle messaging campaign on social media will also help. At this point of time we are rebranding Nepal to be a strong brand with a whole lot of activities. It will have 3 W’s which is a Wow destination, Wild destination and Wellness especially for the Middle East market.
Nandini Lahe-Thapa, Senior Director at the Nepal Tourism Board is Head of the International Marketing and Promotion Dept. With over three decades in the tourism industry, Thapa is also one of the founder team members of the Nepal Tourism Board. She brings with her a huge cache of hand-on experience and in-depth knowledge in driving Nepal’s tourism in the global market.
