The travel culture across the world is changing, owing to the dangers of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The dilemma of travel for those who were planning to spend summer holidays abroad has become incredibly real. The disrupted travel plans of millions of people have led to panic in the travel and tourism industry. Jaymin Borkhatria, the chief commercial officer of Southall Travel, who has worked for close to three and a half decades in the travel industry, spoke to Asian Voice regarding the looming challenges and their turnaround time.
With tourism in the midst of global disruption, what is the new normal for the travel industry?
Jaymin said, “The new norm, unfortunately, has been waiting for news or refunding bookings.
“The industry has not seen such a huge disruption [before] and all airlines are facing difficulties, administration backlogs, and [are] planning services to fly again”.
Clarifying how the leisure and corporate travellers are not yet flying, he said, “We have some customers who are planning for the future. Airlines have introduced policies that allow for flexibility for those who wish to book now.”
Industry experts are viewing the lifting of the non-essential travel ban for 90 countries as beneficial to the tourism and travel industry in the UK. Jaymin thinks this move is “hugely important” and added, “We look forward to seeing tourists return here and to travel overseas where permitted.”
The difficulty UK travellers may now face is planning according to the unique circumstances of countries they want to visit, such as those that have suspended flights from the UK or have closed their borders completely. In this scenario, what kind of travel packages are the travel companies offering? Can the travellers expect frequent changes in the offered plans? “This is evolving,” said Jaymin. “As I mentioned, some airlines have allowed flexibility for certain periods. We do not think it will be possible to change indefinitely so as always we will make sure the customers know the terms and conditions for when they are travelling.”
Keeping the customers aware of an informed and comfortable trip is the top most priority for him. Unlike many players in the market, Southall Travel was quick and forthcoming in offering refunds to their customers. The Southall group, which deals with 1.1 million clients every year in the country, was in the news for promptly processing refunds amounting to over £22 million to about 95 per cent of its customers. This move was seen as a huge financial assurance to the company’s customers that it was standing by them during these difficult times. However, what are the travel companies doing to woo customers back?
Jaymin said, “Our customers are most important to us and we have done everything within our ability to refund our customers and are still in constant dialogue with airlines who are taking a longer time, in order for us to refund sooner than later. People need to know their money is safe.”
The customer community too was quick to express support. “We saw many messages of appreciation,” he added.
“They [people] had the right to refund so we were viewed as performing the service we were contracted to do. It was just so heart-breaking to see so much work and so many dream trips undone.”
In a recent move, the UK government seems to have adopted the traffic light system. This will mean that UK nationals can travel to low-risk countries without being required to quarantine for two weeks after their return. Jaymin believes that the removal of a blanket 14-day quarantine is a step forward. “The government’s blanket advise against all-but-essential travel overseas is planned for refinement to be allowed to travel for safe countries”.
Speaking about the hospitality facilities, he added, “Airline and hotel customer safety practices are being updated. The customers’ desire to travel is still there. The industry will emerge smaller but it is going to get better as time goes on”. The government confirmed recently that £10.5 million new funding will be distributed to small businesses in tourist destinations to boost the tourism economy, with grants of up to £5000 to help them adapt their businesses following the pandemic.
As an industry expert, Jaymin feels this may help some way in the short-term. “The scale of the financial impact is far greater so the industry will have to adapt and heal again as this sticking plaster is removed”, he told Asian Voice. So how long will it be before the industry recovers from such deep losses? “It won’t fully recover for many years. We have had a period of zero revenue for so many months but many costs have remained. There have been so many cutbacks, large aircraft types have been retired permanently by many airlines and future investment will be smaller as a result of the heavy losses this year,” he explained.
Given these cutbacks, will the tourists have to compensate for the loss made by the industry due to the closure by paying higher prices? “Not directly, as prices are more a function of supply and demand. It is more the employees and the shareholders in the supply chain who will bear the losses”, Jaymin added. Although he does believe that travel insurance may become mandatory in the given climate, he is certain that insurance which covers for pandemics will the top priority for travellers. With relevant measures in place, he is hopeful that Britain’s tourism industry “will bounce back and still has so much to offer as before this health scare.”
So what is his message to the Asian community members in the UK who are in two minds about taking that much-wanted holiday? “The airlines and hotels have adapted procedures to keep risks as low as possible all risks have not been totally eliminated at all times. We would say speak to our consultants about the best options. There are some fabulous risk-free destinations that currently have so few tourists, you will be very welcome. There will be differences, buffet meals will be replaced by à la carte dining, but the holiday will be a chance to experience the world again,” he said.
According to him, some of the destinations or holidays that are expected to be popular in the coming months will be individual villas in the Maldives, Dubai resorts with personal space for travel in the future. Seychelles and Mauritius look attractive as they are currently Covid-19 free and on the UK government’s exemption list.
