Asia Travel Re:Set #10 – "COVID-19 & Travel: Impacts, Responses and Outcomes"
Exclusive review of an impressive new book by Simon Hudson
Hello. Welcome to the midweek edition.
A slightly different focus today. I secured a review copy of Simon Hudson’s important new book, COVID-19 & Travel: Impacts, Responses and Outcomes, so thought I would share my impressions.
My over-riding impression is: “Read it.”
For anyone who works in or around travel, aviation and hospitality, the bewildering events of 2020 are writ large. They will be forever imprinted in our psyches. The pure fun of travel may never be the same again.
We know this, so what’s the point of reading more about it?
Simon’s writing suggests he was aware that people may respond this way. Researching and creating such a detailed and broad-ranging book while epochal change is unfolding all around inevitably attracts scepticism, not to mention self doubt.
I have some empathy here. My book, The New Chinese Traveler: Business Opportunities from the Chinese Travel Revolution, was written in 2014. The world was slowly grasping the transformation that Chinese outbound travel would bring to international travel. Looking back, some of the calls I made were soundly reasoned and intuitive. But the subsequent trajectory of change categorises the book as a specific snapshot in time.
Simon Hudson’s new book may also, one day, be viewed as a time-marked reference. I am sure there will be other books to follow in its footprints. The author himself may produce a follow-up. I hope he does.
For now, COVID-19 & Travel is a rich compendium of insights, case studies and analysis that sheds welcome light on a year of gloom and darkness. It’s an eye-opening journey of travel disruption from Aruba to Cambodia, Dubai to India, Japan to New Zealand, Peru to Vietnam.
Thanks for jumping onboard.
Gary
REDISCOVERING THE VOYAGE TO DESTINATION PANDEMIC, AND BEYOND
Simon Hudson’s new book encourages readers to explore hope as well as reflection as the world struggles to confront the economic and social upheavals of a prolonged pandemic.
“The full effects of the pandemic on tourism economics around the world are still unknown.”
Some phrases strike chords for their simplicity, their unfiltered truth and their ability to disarm any response you may be considering.
By page 104 of his eminently readable new book, Simon Hudson’s above statement is indisputably reasoned. The force resonates through the mind for several seconds.
Despite the scrupulously researched global guidance the author has given through the unfolding of a pandemic, critical knowledge gaps remain. The long-term consequences of COVID-19 are still being shaped. They may take several years to be fully realised.
There are many reasons to read COVID-19 & Travel: Impacts, Responses and Outcomes. This cajoling of reflection is certainly one of them. Uncomplicated analysis is another. It is also wonderfully written, in that kind of effortless, uncomplicated yet energetic manner that tends to infuriate other writers.
A high bar for COVID-19 travel books
Being the first cab off the rank can confer mixed blessings. This book is the first of what will likely be a tide of Travel and COVID-19-themed tomes. It’s reassuring, then, that Simon Hudson has set a very high standard for those that follow.
The diversity of coronavirus-in-tourism case studies, and the level of detail invested in each one, make this an important resource, not a silent shelf-filler, for any travel professional. Ordinarily, I would suggest it to be perfect plane reading. Given current circumstances, though, I devoured it in equal parts from the sofa and balcony.
“The diversity of coronavirus-in-tourism case studies, and the level of detail invested in each one, make this an important resource, not a silent shelf-filler, for any travel professional.”
It helps, of course, that the author knows very well of what he writes. Simon Hudson is a respected travel industry consultant and part-time professor at the University of South Carolina. He has worked with tourism companies and academic institutes worldwide. He is an engaging speaker and a mine of industry know-how.
His contacts, too are impeccable, and that shines through. It would have been tricky to create a book of such scale and ambition from a standing start. The contributions of the people he has interviewed and sourced are vital to telling the 2020 travel story.
So, how is the book structured?
It weighs in at an easily manageable 181 pages, and is divided into six sections. The author deploys interviews, international case studies and original insights to examine the following questions:
Why were the COVID-19 outbreak and travel inextricably linked?
How have different sectors of the travel industry adapted to the pandemic?
What crisis communications strategies have been employed by travel organisations?
How have travellers worldwide been impacted by the crisis?
What are the major social, economic and environmental impacts of COVID-19?
How will COVID-19 change the future of travel?
Can you set the scene?
Without any spoiler alerts, the book begins aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is en route from Hong Kong to Yokohama. It builds the suspense as passengers discover the awful reality of a coronavirus outbreak onboard. The story is given additional context by a handful of other stranded cruise ships. In those fearful early days, these ocean-going resorts were emblematic of the long painful months to follow.
“In those fearful early days, these ocean-going resorts were emblematic of the long painful months to follow.”
This is a dramatist’s scene setting. Yet it is shockingly real. Whatever your thoughts about the cruise sector, it was a travel industry success story. Cruise liners carried around 30 million passengers in 2019, and were, as the author writes, “responsible for over a million jobs and USD50 billion in salaries.”
Where from there?
The author charts the steadily worsening impact of COVID-19 through ski resorts in Switzerland and Colorado, hotel bookings cancelled by Chinese travellers in Northern Ireland and the experiences of stranded tourists in Peru. Vicariously, he traipses through the empty streets of Kyoto, and a derelict Disney theme park in Shanghai.
This section of the book paints a still barely believable historical picture of a world closing down.
The best bits?
The strongest sections of the book address how destinations and travel players responded to the worst crisis to hit the tourism sector in living memory.
“Some destinations saw the lockdown as an opportunity to allow consumers to experience their products and experiences virtually or remotely,” the author writes. Solid examples include Tourism Australia’s “With Love From Aus”, Marketing Greece’s “Till Then, Stay Safe” campaign or Las Vegas’s #OnlyYou.
We are reminded of the hopeful #TravelTomorrow hashtag, and a world suddenly convulsed by Zoom chats and live-streamed videos of empty destinations.
From there, the book shifts gear to the early-stage recovery before the European and North American summer.
“As lockdown periods came to an end, destination marketers began to think about strategies to bring back tourists.”
Hotel groups from Mumbai to Paris gifted free rooms to frontline workers, while New Zealand’s “Papatuanuku is Breathing” video was such a source of global inspiration that it was immediately translated into 7 languages. It was, unquestionably, “a heartening glimpse of what we have to look forward to when the lockdown is lifted.”
“Clean and Safe,” and various derivations on the theme, became destination slogans, hotel brand statements and airline mantras. Travel was no longer defined by experience and aspiration, but by industrial grade detergents.
Does it tackle the tough stuff?
Yes. Immediate recovery strategies in Europe were epitomised by two of the world’s most visited nations.
“For many destinations, for example Italy and Spain, the challenge after the pandemic will be repairing a tarnished image.”
Another challenge was upholding pre-COVID business promises. “Travel insurance providers were finding it difficult to deliver on pledges to consumers, particularly in treating claims quickly and fairly.” Airlines found themselves - then and still - under similar pressure.
The environmental impact, is also addressed. The book cites forest rangers in Botum Sakor National Park, Cambodia, who were forced to curtail patrols that tracked bush meat poachers. Their food and wages were paid for by the Golden Triangle Elephant Foundation and Cardamom Tented Camp, “which both relied on tourism for their income and consequently had none due to the temporary COVID-19 shutdown.”
And what about the uncertain road ahead?
Although written mid-pandemic (if ‘mid’ is an appropriate term, given that the scale and duration remain unknown), the author makes some astute points about the ultimate ramifications.
He cites the president of the World Bank, David Malpass, who said in May:
“Our estimate is that up to 60 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty – that erases all the progress made in poverty alleviation over the past three years.”
He pulls few punches when addressing the lessons learned for the travel sector.
“Tourism is an important industry not to be taken for granted… as far as leadership in the travel industry is concerned, it did seem that many leaders in the industry were not prepared for this pandemic.”
Governments also need to reappraise their economic strategies, especially in countries heavily reliant on tourism income.
“The crisis has been a wake-up call, and perhaps governments in these countries will either recognize the need for a more diversified economy, or invest in the tourism industry to make it more resilient and sustainable.”
Travellers, too, will be changed - perhaps forever.
“Just as governments may not take the travel industry for granted in the future, travellers themselves are more likely to appreciate their ability to travel.”
Beyond the virus itself, the destiny of travel may have been taken out of human hands.
“The future will be technology driven… the migration to digital technologies has accelerated at stunning scale and speed across every sector.”
The author cites virus-killing robots, drones to enforce safe distancing, and the increase in surveillance technology and digital tools to track travellers.
It’s been that kind of year.
—————
COVID-19 & Travel: Impacts, Responses and Outcomes, by Simon Hudson
Goodfellow Publishers. ISBN: 978-1-911635-72-7
www.goodfellowpublishers.com
And, that’s a wrap for Issue 10.
Asia Travel Re:Set will return on Sunday.
Until then, you can catch me on Twitter, LinkedIn and The South East Asia Travel Show. Please send ideas, thoughts and feedback to gary@check-in.asia.
Speak soon
Gary