Since the outbreak, Covid-19 has had unprecedented impacts on all over the world. According to the latest information, as of 17th April 2020, 2.2 million people infected with Covid-19 in 185 countries and at least 147,000 people died because of Covid-19 (BBC 2020). In order to minimize this crisis, people are urged to stay home, and various industries damaged by unpredicted impacts. Travel industry is one of the most damaged industries and the condition is revealed by some statistics. According to UNWTO (2020), compared with 2019 figures, the international tourist arrivals estimates to be down by 20% to 30%, and international tourism exports will also decline by US$ 300-450 billion. In my home country, Japan, according to JNTO (2020), compared with last March, the number of international tourists coming to Japan decreased by 93% in this March. Because the damage of East Asia like China and South Korea was so serious, as a result, Japan lost so many main international tourists and their consumption.

In Travel Industry, there are a lot of serious problems. For example, airline company encounters the crisis of going bankrupt because long distance travel is restricted strictly, and the demand is decreasing rapidly all over the world. Meanwhile, other transportation is suffering from the lack of passengers and without government’s help, they will go bankrupt soon. In tourism destinations, the problem is more serious because almost all of the facilities are forced to be closed and employees engaging tourism are exposed to unemployment. In the United States, about 825,000 jobs could be lost in travel industry (CNBC 2020). Therefore, people regard travel industry as unstable. In order to get over this challenge, innovative idea is necessary for travel industry.

Tour operator is a mediator and make tour package by connecting tour and travel components. Under this circumstance, tour operator should not focus on the sales of tour package because no one buy it. On the other hand, when Corona crisis settle, the demand of tourism will increase rapidly. Therefore, tour operator should prepare for post Corona crisis and improve their services. Firstly, they should improve their system. There are a lot of complex procedures to make one tour package. So, tour operator should review past arrangement and make better new mechanism to do it. Then, not only better techniques, but also knowledge and experiences should be included. Secondly, tour operator should research customer’s need. Not only the analysis of customers’ past information but also the implement of marketing research are effective because it will contribute to getting new customers and making more attractive tour package in the future. Generally, these king of research needs enough time to process of a huge amount of data, however, it is time to do it now because they are relatively free. Thirdly, tour operator should promote their services. In order to do it, it is effective that they establish strong media channel and make use of it.

On the other hand, if it is impossible for tour operators to sell tour package now, as mediator, by using their various connections between stakeholders, they should create new products or mix tourism and other services and solve current situation. First example is accommodation. Because of Corona, lack of specific hospitals for infected people is one of the serious problems. Therefore, if tour operator contacts doctors and turn accommodation into temporary hospitals, which allows not only to prevent from further damage for patients, doctors, and everyone, but also to maintain employment in lodging industry. In addition, I expect that the hospitality heals doctors’-tired bodies. Second example is souvenir. These days, lack of masks is also serious problem. In order to solve it, if people make masks made of traditional cloths like batik, it is useful for not only people suffering from this shortage but also worrying about unemployment. Third example is food and transportation. Restaurants also face the lack of customers because people avoid eating out. Meanwhile, some transportation like Grab or Gojek are suffering from lack of passengers. That is why, if they promote food delivery more and more, it makes happy not only customers but also stakeholders like transportation.

In fact, after big crisis, human beings have created innovation, which means the possibility of innovation in travel industry is very high. Now, people think they cannot travel without visiting tourist destinations. However, thanks to the development of technologies, they may be able to enjoy travel at home in the future. For example, the technology of VR (Virtual Reality) will allow us to experience travel anytime and anywhere. In conclusion, although we tend to think this condition has bad impacts on travel industry, in contrast, it is also paradigm shift for travel industry. Thanks to this big paradigm shift, it will be expected to create new idea and further profits in travel industry.

 

References:

BBC News. (2020).Coronavirus pandemic: Tracking the global outbreak, Retrieved 18 April 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51235105

Hanna Ziady. (2020). Most airlines could be bankrupt by May. Governments will have to help, CNN News, Retrieved 16 March 2020, from

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/16/business/airlines-bailouts/index.html

JNTO. (2020). The number of international tourist arrivals in Japan, Retrieved from 15 April 2020, from https://www.jnto.go.jp/jpn/news/press_releases/pdf/200415_monthly.pdf

Lauren Hirsch. (2020). Travel industry could lose $24 billion as coronavirus cripples tourism from outside US, CNBC, Retrieved 11 March 2020, from

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/11/coronavirus-travel-industry-could-lose-24-billion-in-tourism-from-outside-us.html

UNWTO. (2020). International Tourist Arrivals Could Fall by 20-30% in 2020, Retrieved 26 March 2020, from

https://www.unwto.org/news/international-tourism-arrivals-could-fall-in-2020