The travel, tourism, and hospitality segment, like every other segment, were caught unexpectedly into one of the gravest crises of this century. Though being prepared for such a scenario was never thought of, but overcoming this hurdle is the need of the hour. Majority of the governments are not so serious about revival of the travel and tourism sector. Hence, the industry is looking up at trade associations for the next course of action.
How successful have the associations been in putting forth recommendations before the Government? What role Associations are playing for survival and revival of its members during these challenging times and how important is it to be a part of any association while facing such a crisis were some of the pertinent questions brough up for the discussion at an e-conference during SATTE GenX titled, ‘Tourism Associations: Managing a Global Crisis’ organized by T3.
Moderated by Carl Vaz, 1st National Vice President, Skal International India, the e-conference witnessed eminent speakers from across the global associations including; Pornthip Hirunkate, Vice President, Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA); Paul Leung, Chairman, Hong Kong Inbound Travel Association; Pronab Sarkar, President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO); Sunil Kumar, President, United Federation of Travel Agents (UFTAA) and Pradip Lulla, President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) brainstorming on these issues.
Globally, many governments have directly supported their local tourism industry by providing exemptions and direct financial support. Hong Kong as a destination which has not seen any major growth in inbound tourism for over a year now has received reliefs provided by their Govt.
“Due to the pandemic, business for each one of us in the association is zero. In Hong Kong, we are facing challenges in inbound tourism for almost a year now. We are teaching the members how to stay strong and resilient during such a crisis. Firstly, we represented to the government for subsidies, next we have asked our members to diversify their business. Most of the inbound tour operators as a standby have entered the retail business, most of them are selling merchandises. The Government is also helpful, they have subsidized a lot of agents with money and funding and also various incentives like free coach parking, etc to our members. HK Government is also paying HKD 9000 per staff during the pandemic times,” Leung informed.
One of the major challenges during the entire lockdown period were the cancellations and refunds. A lot of tour operators and travel agents are in a fix as many airlines have not processed refunds.
Speaking about the role of UFTAA in helping the industry in this matter, Kumar said, “The role of associations has become increasingly relevant and important during the times of the pandemic. The kind of handholding we extend to our members makes a big difference in such a situation. Several associations required assistance from UFTAA and we have been instrumental in helping those associations and sharing materials with them. In several countries, there has been a direct financial support by the government, this includes payment of salaries to staff which is very welcoming. UFTAA is on the global panel of IATA, for three months every week we have global meetings to discuss issues. IATA has been able to chase airlines and refunds have been done by lot of airlines. Without online there is no way forward to promote tourism now.”
Post various representations and meetings, the travel agents in India have got some relief in the form of refunds and travel shells. Recently as decision has been made for the refunds by airline before March 31, 2021 and post that the airline would have to pay nine per cent interest.
Speaking about the challenges, Lulla said, “We left no stones unturned; we approached every department of the Ministry. Initially we got a lot of cooperation from Ministry of Civil Aviation, we connected them to IATA for the information on refund amounts. We thought that there would be some relief but unfortunately the order from our regulator was that refunds will be payed for only tickets issued during the lockdown, there was nothing issued during this period. We filed a writ petition on behalf of the travel agents. The outcome was that last week there was a special mention of travel agents, that refunds would be through agents to the customers in cash or as travel shell. A shell would be transferred to the travel agents if the passengers wont use. There is a limit on the refund and the airlines have to pay by March 31st.”
Apart from the airlines refund issue, another major challenge the industry is witnessing is the Government refunds. Government guest houses, luxury trains, Air India, etc., none of the refunds have been processed which is a pain point for the industry.
Sarkar said, “End of February, government had informed to hold foreign tourists and asked them to fly back. It was a major issue for us to transport them from different states and repatriate them to their home. The Government of India helped us in rescuing all the passengers. The main challenge is how will we survive as most of us are small and medium tour operators. Many countries helped their travel fraternity financially, but in India we have not seen any help. Our major issues were refunds; airlines, luxury trains, advances to hotel and safari parks, advances paid to government rest houses and guesthouses. None of the refunds were in place, we had to approach all the concerned authorities to help us out. We approached FHRAI for hotel refunds, most of them have been done. We are now waiting for government agencies to refund us.”
The Thai Government has introduced soft loans for the tourism industry with an interest rate of two per cent to revive their business. Close to 20 per cent of the Thai GDP is contributed from the tourism and hospitality segment.
Speaking about the measures which Thailand Government has taken for the sector, Hirunkate said, “we have over 1000 members with us and we are facing a similar situation with no travellers. We all work closely with other associations and Tourism Council, which consists of 13 main associations. We are closely in touch with authorities and also the Prime Minister. For three months, the government has paid minimum wages to each one of the staff, this move helped us to reduce costs. We try our best to help each member revive their business. Our government recognizes tourism as a major sector as it contributes 18-20 per cent of the GDP. Our Prime Minister along with his team visited and met with our association to hear our voice. The Government has setup soft loan for the travel industry, with nothing to pay for six months and interest of two per cent. TAT has been very active, and they come up with unique ideas to revive the industry.”
