‘The vaccine will herald a new beginning, to a now restructured travel industry’
Even in difficult times, there is a lot to look forward to in our industry. The world will travel again, and we hope that the travel industry will come out of this even stronger. Abinash Manghani, CEO, WelcomHeritage shares his expertise with us, as he discusses some current aspects of the COVID situation in the travel industry.
WelcomHeritage, a joint venture between ITC and Jodhana Heritage, represents some of the finest traditions of heritage hospitality and tourism in India. WelcomHeritage offers 41 exclusive destinations, ranging from grand palaces to traditional Havelis to magnificent forts and quiet nature resorts. Sitting in regal poise all over the country, all of these destinations are gateways to the finest of Indian legacy and culture. The intrinsic philosophy of WelcomHeritage exists in identifying heritage properties in distant locations and helps to restore them. WelcomHeritage offers exclusive experiences, thus delivering extra value to guests, and each of their hotels has a secret to share and a story to tell.
While speaking about the second wave in progress, and the actual timeline to achieve normalcy and recovery, Manghani says, ‘It is conventionally accepted today that the Indian travel & tourism industry will display a semblance of normalcy by October 2021. However, the domestic leisure segment is already showing robust signs of growth; this is expected to be followed by corporate travel, groups and MICE later. With the growth of aviation and if international travel does resume in January 2021 as announced by MOCA, then we can expect the recovery to gain stronger legs. Weddings incidentally are doing rather well as a segment albeit with smaller numbers in 2020.”
The news of a potential vaccine holds promise for travel in 2021. Manghani shares, “This brings a much-needed ‘Ray of Hope’ to this beleaguered sector as it brings confidence to the global recovery process. Closer home, Indian equity and property markets are showing a handsome V-shaped recovery and other economic indicators including GST collections are moving up smartly. In a way, vaccine heralds a new beginning for, to a now restructured travel industry to begin the planning process for 2021.”
We all have been witnessing that the standard hygiene SOPs are being put into practice almost everywhere and evermore in the hospitality industry, yet the threat is still alive! So guests and customers have to be reassured even more since domestic travel is picking up. According to Manghani, almost everybody has a protocol in place, so it is important to know that COVID protocols are not really a differentiator. Consumers are looking for trust and in such a scenario, they prefer branded hotels to individually run establishments. There is a flurry in developed markets and a lot of hotels are changing flags or adding them to be part of a larger umbrella.
Mentioning technology which has played a significant role during COVID, Manghani says, “Without a doubt, technology has now become a buzzword in the travel industry. Airlines, airports, Hotels are catching up to frontline technologies that were considered arcane merely a year ago. Every facet of the customer’s travel path has now had an IT component. The mobile is now the new passport from reservations to check-out. Cloud computing has gained respectability and organisations are reworking their organisational structures to reposition for the New Normal. It is expected that employees work from anywhere and have access to technology since COVID can cause acute disruptions to a work schedule.”
“The Indian travel industry is a function of discretionary consumer demand. I am confident that this will begin to manifest in the medium term in India and subsequently in International markets. In the meantime, the Indian Government must provide support to this crucial sector as it not only provides employment but also projects India’s ‘Soft Power’ in the region,” shares Manghani while speaking about the support needed for the Indian travel industry going into 2021.