Travel + Leisure - India & South Asia
The Intelligent Traveller
Travel+Leisure India & South Asia
compiles its annual travel trends report with a series of webinars, #TNLOutreach, where doyens of the industry and T+L editors from various international editions discuss the future of travel and travel content. We also speak to the movers and shakers of the F&B industry to sculpt the new normal of dining out.
Travel+Leisure India & South Asia
THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS has upended the world as we knew it. And while most industries and business have been hit to some extent, travel was the first to be completely shut down. Pandemics love open borders, after all. But now that lockdowns are easing in many countries, and communities are learning to live with COVID-19 until a vaccine emerges, we tried to sculpt the new face of travel. Travel+Leisure India & South Asia kick-started its webinars with a conversation on Rebound Travel. A diverse panel that featured leading industry experts predicted the primary trends in a conversation moderated by Travel+Leisure India & South Asia’s Editor-in-Chief Aindrila Mitra.
Hospitality is integral to travel. While people may find a way to go from city A to town B with social distancing and hygiene factored in, their accommodation at the destination will play a crucial role in encouraging the trip and maintaining their well-being. Amanpreet Bajaj, Country Manager, Airbnb India, knows that safety will be the tourist’s key concern.
“At Airbnb, we have announced an enhanced cleaning strategy. For the first time, there is an overarching standardised sanitation protocol for the home-sharing industry—from ways to clean certain areas of a home to products to be used. It has been created in consultation with leading
healthcare facilities around the world and medical experts,” Bajaj reveals.
Similar concerns and policies echo with luxury hotels that are used to hosting hundreds of guests at once. Meena Bhatia, Vice President & GM, Le Meridien New Delhi, and Co-Convenor, Tourism, CII
Delhi State Council, puts it lucidly when she says that safe business is better business for now. “We used to keep a gap of four hours between a check-out and a check-in. Now, we will sanitise the rooms and wait for at least 24 hours.”
Airlines, too, have had to be agile with their policies in these strange no-fly times. Vinod Kannan, CCO,
Vistara, emphasises the importance of flexibility. “At Vistara, we have extended all bookings done for dates till May 31, until the end of the year. We’ve also retained all of our members’ loyalty
It’s not just a matter of where, but also how. Avoiding public transport may be an expected consequence, at least in the near future. “Road trips will attract people, and caravan tours will be encouraged,” says Meenakshi Sharma, Director-General, Ministry of Tourism. She also feels that the way people enjoy their holidays is bound to transition from place-hopping to slow travel. “Travel for four hours and stay for four days,” she elucidates on the idea.
The cloud that looms over us now might be grey but it does have a silver lining. We’ve seen pictures of clear blue skies, healthy water bodies, and wildlife roaming our streets. Fernando says that the pandemic has introduced a muchneeded reset in the over-tourism that we were heading towards. “Humanity’s frailty has been exposed. There’s a new-found respect for nature.”
Bajaj believes that sustainability, a buzzword in travel before the pandemic, will continue to reign. “We will see a shift in the demographic [of travellers]. Gen Z-led travel will be prominent. And a lot of people in this domain value healthier choices and sustainable travel.” Flynn points out that millennials were already
‘how soon’ comes up, Sharma cites a survey they did in Switzerland. “There are three kinds of travellers right now: the pragmatic, the procrastinator, and the worrier. If the proportion of pragmatics is higher, we can expect people to be travelling again soon— by the end of this year.”
Travellers are in a dream phase, feels Malik J Fernando, Director, Dilmah Tea, and MD, Resplendent Ceylon. He cites research to assert that 50-60 per cent of travellers will feel safe flying in the next six months. “We might see travel bubbles initially. Like Australia-New Zealand.” He hopes that India-Sri Lanka can make for a bubble too as the latter “has handled the crisis really well,” with fewer than 10 deaths among 1,000-plus confirmed cases.
IT WAS AROUND MARCH 11 that the staff of Travel + Leisure US started working from home. The May issue, focussed on Europe, was days from being printed, and it was too late to pull it back. “The moment we hit ‘Send to Press’, we knew that Europe was going to be the new epicentre of the virus. So we put in a disclaimer that a lot of businesses may be closed,” says Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Gifford. But her editorial fears were all for nought, as the magazine received tons of notes from readers saying they had loved the content. “They can’t go anywhere, and they love to look at the photography, which has been a brand signature—T+L started as U.S. Camera and Travel many years ago.”
In the June issue, Gifford included new content, like an essay about learning to love where you are, a photo portfolio of Art Deco signage in Porto, and a story on Puerto Rico, which has been through challenging times and continues to reinvent itself. “Soft messaging makes people understand the time we’re living in but also gives them hope for the future. We don’t have people on the field right now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get creative with illustrations, photography, and essays.”
When it comes to rebound travel, Gifford believes domestic travel will be the first thing to bounce back in the US. In fact, people are already starting to return to national parks. “Some people have been separated from their families
[by lockdowns], so they might want to take an extended trip with their loved ones,” Gifford says, clarifying that these are broad generalisations. “People are going to come out of this with very different mindsets. For instance, if I could go to Paris, even in a semi-closed mode, and just walk around, I’d totally do that!”
The pandemic hit the industry at its peak. People were travelling more in 2019 than they ever had. In fact, the average T+L reader was taking seven extensive trips in a year. Gifford foresees a paradigm shift now. “In the new normal, people might decide to take fewer but longer trips, and immerse themselves in the destination rather than hop on planes all the time.”
be the first category to pick up. “Our June issue is all about staying local and driving to nearby destinations. Road trips help individuals stay in control of their travel, and that is what everyone is going to be looking for,” she explains.
When it comes to regions in India that will open sooner than others, Mitra explains that the dynamics are changing every day. “Goa was a COVID-free state until recently, but now, there are many active cases. However, going by the red, orange, and green zones in the country currently, I think the Northeast is likely to open first. Short getaways are also going to be popular, so people in Delhi will prefer driving to destinations like Rishikesh or Jim Corbett National Park.”
THE FIRST COUNTRY TO BE affected by the pandemic, China, is now on the path to recovery. After months of lockdown, China is slowly opening up. The travel content, too, is gradually shifting from virtual tours and trips to city guides. Amber Li, Senior Editor at Travel + Leisure China, says, “We are encouraging people to revisit their favourite restaurants in their cities. We also provide them lists of parks and other places that are opening up.” But many readers in the country are already making travel plans for the next year, and this is also influencing travel content. “Since China is doing fine now, this year, people will be exploring vacations in the country to minimise risk, but they are buying packages offered by luxury hotel brands that they can redeem next year,” Li reveals.
On travel trends for the future, Li believes her readers would want to get away from the city. “Island holidays are going to be huge among the Chinese,” she reckons. “We are all looking for fresh water and air, along with calm and quiet.”
Another interesting travel tradition that COVID-19 will give rise to in China is travelling with family, according to Li. “We never spent such a long time with our families before.
This time, many families spent the Chinese
New Year together, in their homes. The bonds were renewed. One thing we will see postcoronavirus is people planning more family vacations. And we are curating content suitable for it,” she says.
ACCORDING TO ALEJANDRO ORTIZ ‘MATU’, Editorin-Chief of Travel + Leisure Mexico, the travel world has talked enough about the crisis, and readers are waiting to hear good news now. “In the initial months of the outbreak, travel content revolved completely around the pandemic and the ways to handle it. Now, feel-good stories are working great among the readers. So, our travel articles are mainly on inspiration and service information, including safety measures, reopening of restaurants, hotels, and leisure destinations,” he says.
One of the major reasons why optimistic travel content is on the rise, Matu believes, is that people are spending their self-isolation time planning meaningful trips that they can take once the crisis is over. “People are making plans to travel to local, less-crowded destinations that can help them cope with the stress and mental health issues that come with quarantine and selfisolation. Eating well, sleeping well, mindfulness, and connecting with nature will become priorities,” Matu predicts.
Wellness travel, with an emphasis on safety and cleanliness, and luxury destinations offering upscale experiences, will see a boom. “Beaches in Mexico that offer relaxing and peaceful time will also see a lot of demand,” he adds.
AS MUCH AS WE LOVE a rugged trek or a dusty jungle safari, the pleasures of a champagne breakfast are incomparable. Hence, a detailed conversation about the landscape of luxury travel and hospitality after COVID-19 was bound to be a part of this webinar series. Moderated by Riaan George, a seasoned luxury travel blogger and journalist, the discussion touched upon the predictions, policy changes, and actions of renowned hotel and cruise brands around the globe.
“like right now via video conferencing.”
Offering the UAE perspective, Thomas Grundner, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at JA Resorts & Hotels (jaresortshotels.com), agrees that luxury will have its edge because of space and individuality. At the same time, Grundner says he’d like to see “if the 1,000-room hotels will be able to cater to the safety requirements of the guests or if the more nimble boutique properties will be deemed more approachable.”
While the general forecast is of fewer but longer trips, cruise vacations might go the other way. “Holidays at sea will be shorter to begin with, and Indian travellers will opt for destinations within Asia before going further away,” predicts Goh.
From brainstorming on ideas to CSR activities to considerate recruitment policies, hospitality veterans have a lot going on, even when most of the conventional tasks are on hold.
Two ships of Genting Cruise Lines are being used to harbour migrant workers in Singapore. Goh believes that this is a good time to build bonds. “In Singapore, 30 per cent of our business is domestic and 70 per cent is international.
So, growing our partnerships with airlines and hotels in Singapore is key,” he explains.
Apart from seven properties in the Middle East, JA Resorts & Hotels also operates out of two locations in the Indian Ocean. At their Maldives property, Grundner says, this time has been useful in making enhancements that they were not able to do otherwise, with guests round the year. Looking at the bigger picture, Grundner feels, “We’d grown really comfortable in the last few years— working, copying, pasting, and being happy with it. Now we’ve got the opportunity to relook at check-in/check-out processes and housekeeping approaches, and include technology components.”
It is almost certain that a technological revolution will have taken over the industry by the time we are on the other side of the pandemic; the process has already begun. For instance, Viterale shares, “We are updating the guests virtually about our flexible booking policies, and sharing interesting content and tips on wellness, food, travel, and lifestyle through our Fullerton newsletters.”
With around 800 hotel partners in 85 countries, Preferred Hotels & Resorts has its hands full. Rai explains the quarterly strategy of the brand, “Quarter one (April-June) was all about preservation and safe-keeping the health of people while minimising cash flow. The next quarter is for thawing back and taking the responsibility of kick-starting the travel engine.” A consumer-speak sentiment survey that Preferred Hotels & Resorts conducted among the 3,50,000 members of iPrefer Program brought good news: 20 per cent of the members have booked travel before December 2020, while 54 per cent said that they were confident about travelling again this year.
BEFORE THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS ran amok, the world looked at wellness travel through rose-tinted glasses. But times have changed, and so has this vision. Now that wellness has gone from being an Instagram trend to an absolute necessity, albeit with distancing caveats added, we hosted a discussion, moderated by hotelier and lifestyle journalist Vishwaveer Singh, in which industry experts charted out the future of wellness tourism in a post-COVID-19 world.
Right before the pandemic hit, wellness travel was reported to be one of the top trends for 2020. While pandemic fears may have dented this rise, some say wellness tourism will be among the first ones to see a boom. “There has been a global awakening that we are not as strong as we thought. And this realisation will lead to a greater demand for wellness travel,” says Vickum Nawagamuwage, Founder and CEO, Santani Wellness Resort & Spa (santani.lk).
“Not only will there be more demand, but there will also be a change in demand. People will look for therapies beyond pampering and strategies that enable a boost in immunity,” adds Dr Harald Stossier, Founder and Chief Medical Officer, VIVAMAYR (vivamayr.com). However, Pawan Malik, Founder, Shreyas Yoga Retreat (shreyasretreat.com), believes it’s too soon to say if the spike we see now is going to stand the test of time. “Throughout this journey of coming out of this pandemic, we are likely to have many false openings. People will be nervous about others coming close to them or touching them, which has become a crucial part of the wellness industry.” Malik believes the sustenance of this latent demand for wellness travel will depend on when we get our hands on a vaccine or get comfortable with travelling again.
For Alejandro Bataller, Vice President,
SHA Wellness Clinic (shawellnessclinic. com), creating a protective environment is the only way forward. “Being completely COVID-free might not be possible, but we must take measures to minimise the risk. At SHA, we have come up with measures like asking for a COVID test from guests during booking and their medical check-up upon arrival. Same goes for our staff. We have also installed demographic cameras, highly disinfectant systems, and strict protocols,” says Bataller. Manoj Khetan, Co-founder of Naad Wellness (naadwellness.com), asserts that the safety standards at his Sonipat retreat are equivalent to that of the leading hospitals in the country. “Our team lives in a housing complex provided by Naad, so their hygiene standards are on a par with what we offer at the resort.”
Malik, however, says that every country will have to deal with the challenge of offering a safe space in its own way.
“India, for instance, is known for not being diligent towards these practices.
So, the wellness industry will have to up its hygiene and sanitation standards to be able to convince people to come here.”
Given the nature of the pandemic, immunity-boosting practices and ancient wellness rituals will top the trends list. Aashica Khanna, Vice President, IHHR Hospitality (ihhrhospitality.com), believes that now is the time to be extra vigilant towards what they offer. “Indian sciences lend themselves very well to the lowtouch form of healing. For instance, yoga and Ayurveda are age-old, trusted interventions that enhance well-being.”
Nawagamuwage points out that the current scenario will separate spa hotels from wellness retreats that focus on overall well-being. “Wellness is more than just massages. Ayurveda, for instance, is based on panchakarma, and it doesn’t necessarily involve physical contact,” he says, bolstering Khanna’s viewpoint. Bataller, too, concurs on the expected demand for holistic health. “In short to medium term, we’ll see an increase in the demand for immunity-boosting and other treatments like plasma and infrared therapies. I also see a rise in the demand for telemedicine services, as people are now looking for ways to stay connected to their preferred wellness retreats and experts in order to keep a track of their health.”
Gone are the days when a few days at a wellness retreat were good enough. The new normal may be the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.
The F&B industry in India is prepared for a hiatus lasting anywhere between six to 12 months, thanks to COVID-19. But does that mean that the diner will have to wait it out? Not really. RASHIMA NAGPAL & SUSHMITA SRIVASTAV report. ILLUSTRATIONS BY MEGHNA PATWAL