Travel and Hospitality (TnH) - May 2021

ISSUE 7 / VOLUME XII / MAY 2021 Rs.350 / Pages 59

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EDITOR’S NOTE Sometimes hope is all we have, and to lose that is to lose all!

As the first wave of the virus receded at the beginning of the year and the vaccine was publicized in full steam, we believed we had conquered Covid -19.

The government failed to prepare for the second wave and our vaccination programme went astray with the government’s misplaced confidence and priorities. Furthermore, we- the citizens- let out guards down. We resumed our daily life, discarding masks and the social distancing protocols that both doctors and scientists had mandated, openly challenging the odds of a second wave. Then, without any warning, the second wave hit.

To say the virulent second wave of the virus has devastated India is a gross understatement. With over 250,000 people dead because of the pandemic, India is one of the world’s most affected countries. And while the new wave is raging in over a dozen states, Delhi appears to be the epicenter. Every family has been COVID-touched; what varies is just the degree. With heartrending visuals all over the Internet and media of desperate Indians pleading for oxygen tanks for their loved ones and

of mass cremations of victims, despair and bereavement seem to be all around us.

In this backdrop talking about business recovery seems frivolous, but despite the situation we have to move forward and not lose hope. Consequently, the May issue of Travel and Hospitality is punctuated with stories of renewal and growth. Times are certainly tragic and tough, but despite the challenges, we will overcome this. Just like throngs of us have come together to help our fellow citizens in whatever way we can, as an industry let’s stick together and remember that this storm too will blow over.

Publisher & Editor Srishti Jindal

CONTENTS

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Understanding the rise of the global passport business in an Exclusive Interview with Shivaz Rai, MD, Migrate World India

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To Recovery & Beyond- An interview with Vinay Malhotra, COO, VFS Global, on restarting travel

Effectively navigating through the pandemic with Munnmunn Marwah, COO, Think Strawberries

Weathering a Storm- An interview with V Ravindran, Regional Manager, Sri Lankan Airlines on the effects of the pandemic on the aviation industry

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Ring THE Bell- An Interview with Nishant Pitti, Co-Founder & CEO, EaseMyTrip.com, on successfully listing the first OTA on the Indian stock exchange

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Shikha Mishra, A tourism PR & marketing specialist’s, perspective on Restarting Tourism

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Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group Chief Operating Officer of VFS Global

09 Interview

To Recovery & BeyondAn interview with Vinay Malhotra, COO, VFS Global, on restarting travel In an exclusive interview, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group Chief Operating Officer of VFS Global, shares his company’s perspective on how to kick-start tourism post-Covid-19. According to Malhotra, with the course of the pandemic still evolving, it would be premature to predict the future of any market at this point in time. However, he feels that pent-up demand along with efforts to restart global economies will drive a pent-up demand for travel over the next two years.

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Q. With the pandemic going nowhere in near future, how and when do you think international travel can restart?

2020 has been unique in terms of the repercussions the pandemic had on the socio-economic agenda of people and businesses, and even as we get to mid-2021, we are seeing the second and third waves. That said, there have been some green shoots in the form of travel bubbles, a gradual increase in vaccinations, albeit at a different pace in each region, and restart of visa application processes for limited categories and countries.

With this level of uncertainty, it is still premature to predict the outlook for any market with the course of the pandemic still evolving. That said, we have seen over the last few months stronger-than-expected volumes in some countries – I feel a combination of pent-up demand and efforts to kickstart global economies will drive demand for travel over the next two years.

Q. How do you look back at the past year as far as international travel is concerned?

When it struck, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the travel ecosystem globally alongwith the expected impact on visa services too, bringing it to a virtual standstill for a few months. However, almost as soon as the border closures began early last year, as an organization, we responded quickly and with agility to adjust to the new market environment. Early on, we saw this as an opportunity to transform and make ourselves stronger and resilient for the future and in step with current customer needs.

As soon as visa application restarted gradually in July 2020 for limited visa categories and countries, we were clear that the health and safety of customers and our employees would be an important aspect of the visa application process: from safety measures at the centres, stepping up of courier services, doorstep visa services, and going forward, the launch of future-ready digital services aimed at a convenient and safe visa application experience for our customers.

In fact, over the last year, there has been a sea change in how customers view any kind of service delivery, including for travel requirements, with virtual tech-enabled tools being used far more comfortably today across age groups and locations.

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Q. Please update us on the status of your visa application processes globally and in India. What are the countries that have restarted issuing visa to Indians? What are those visa categories?

The last quarter has witnessed intermittent activity for the international travel community, with borders opening sporadically in step with vaccination drives in various regions. Since July 2020, the visa application process (in various categories) for over 40 governments has resumed at select Visa Application Centres across India. Visa categories vary as per the directives of the diplomatic missions and may differ based on location.

As an extra layer of caution, VFS Global had established standardised protective measures that are followed across centres, including physical distancing and sanitisation, body temperature checks, use of masks and sanitisers, disinfecting high-contact surfaces, etc. Customers exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, including high fever, cough and difficulty in breathing are not permitted to enter the centres.

That said, regulations around travel are still fluid and dynamic and dependent on not only scenarios within India, but in the destination country as well and of course, we operate strictly in accordance with those regulations.

Q. To be specific, how optimistic are you about the restart of India’s outbound tourism looking at the prevailing situation as it is?

Considering the current situation in the country, with cases on the rise and lockdowns being considered or implemented in various states, it would be premature to offer any projections on when a full recovery could be made.

Generally speaking, the travel industry tends to weather shocks well, bouncing back soon after the crisis is past, be it war, or terror attacks, or outbreaks. The desire to travel for leisure or business is an intrinsic aspect of our lives today – people are keen to travel as soon as they possibly can; pent-up demand and new dimensions of health considerations are strong driving forces for the sector to rally. I feel sure a full recovery will be made when we overcome our current challenges and travel remains a mid- and long-term growth sector.

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Q. What suggestions would you like to offer to India’s policymakers regarding restarting and reviving tourism?

The most important factor for travel recovery is the perception of health and safety measures in place at every step of the travel process, whether at the origin or destination country. All stakeholders, including governments, will be very keen to maintain the balance of assurances around health and safety. Allowing travel bubbles to open up provided a boost to the sector last year, and once the current crisis is overcome, we would hope that the bilateral agreements between governments continue in the same positive manner as we saw last year.

Besides that, we support the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) efforts to promote pre-departure testing instead of everchanging quarantine rules that make travel planning almost impossible. In addition, many countries are considering the introduction of vaccine passports or health certificates.

With economic agendas of countries tied in closely with travel and tourism, I am confident the steps being taken are in a positive direction and our sector will recover despite the prevailing uncertainty.

Q. What about the tourism industry’s private stakeholders. What advice would you give them?

While travel behaviours have been undergoing steady changes

(increasing reliance on digital models, for instance), the pandemic has accelerated them. Health and safety considerations have become of paramount importance for all travellers. Booking and travel patterns have changed, mostly online, and customers are showing a greater willingness to opt for safe and exclusive doorstep services.

Yes, these fast changes have led to low confidence amongst the travel trade industry, with an apprehension about how to adapt to new customer behaviours and changing economic conditions. If there’s a positive for us in the industry, it is that this is the time to think more boldly about the future, and act quickly in the present to transform businesses.

We all need to prepare for the ‘new normal’, and that’s where we should encourage new business models, embrace digitalisation, and meet the safety and health needs of travellers.

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Q. At a time when safety and health are the topmost concerns of the people, what pioneering and innovating work is VFS doing in this direction to boost consumer confidence?

There’s been a clear evolution in customer's needs since the pandemic, and indeed, even before it. For some time now, as an organization, VFS Global has been focused on reimagining the customer journey by bringing more of the visa application process online to the safety of our customers’ homes.

Currently in its 20 th year, a hallmark of VFS has been constantly coming up with game-changing and future-ready innovations, and defining new standards and processes in the industry – from pioneering the concept of a Joint Visa Application Centre (where one could apply for visas of multiple countries under one roof) to our popular ‘Visa At Your Doorstep’ service (where you can apply for visas from a location of your choice), health and travel insurances, courier services and appointment-only VAC visits, etc.

The pandemic has accelerated our focus on introducing techenabled tools for greater convenience for our customers. For instance, we have been introducing ‘contactless’ experiences in the form of enabling customers to submit applications remotely and online COVID-19 test booking services through our global network and in partnership with several airlines.

We have also partnered with technology companies like OK2Roam and the Singapore-based Accredify to manage the issuance of tamper-proof and verifiable health certificates for travel (and quicker immigration clearance) on certain routes, a service that will be extended to several locations in the coming months.

Overall, we are looking to increase process efficiencies for a customer-centric, leaner, and technologically advanced VFS Global for the future. This is the aim for the industry as a whole – that we all move towards agile, forward-looking transformational models that can sustain us well into the future.

Shivaz Rai, MD, Migrate World India

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19 Interview

Understanding the rise of the global passport business in an Exclusive Interview with Shivaz Rai, MD, Migrate World India As Managing Director of Migrate World India, Shivaz is the Indian ambassador of the global citizenship movement. His company helps people from the subcontinent to gain citizenship elsewhere and enables them to enjoy the perks that their new passport brings.

In an interview with Tnh, Rai discusses global citizenship, the impact of Covid-19 on this blossoming sector and more.

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Q. Tell us a little about your professional journey.

My professional journey has been long and arduous but the present is very exciting! I left India to study in the U.S in the 90s. I then graduated as one of the top students from the University of Chicago - one of the leading universities in the world – and started my financial career at Wall Street in New York City. I then moved on to other global financial capitals like Singapore and Dubai. After decades of being deeply entrenched in the world of hedge funds and banking, I finally joined my family business focusing on travel, visa and citizenship services that had been steadily growing over the years.

Q. After a successful innings in the banking world, what drove you to become an entrepreneur and venture into the travel and citizenship sector?

My father has been an entrepreneur in the travel and citizenship sector for the last 40 years and therefore it would be safe to say that this trade is in my blood. Moreover, it is a segment that has grown exponentially over the past decades and will continue to grow in the world over, as people push to become global citizens.

Therefore, anyone with reasonable business acumen can gauge the limitless opportunities this sector presents.

Q. What has been your biggest challenge operating in the Indian market?

If I had to name one, I would say lack of knowledge. Almost everyone who comes to us for a second residency or passport is familiar with Canada or the United States. However, few are aware of the immense benefits that passports from countries like St. Kitts which offers visa-free access to over 150 countries or Bulgaria that provides the ability to live, work and study anywhere in the EU offer.

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Q. What is the gamut of services Migrate World provides for the Indian market?

Migrate World India specializes in facilitating the process of gaining residency or a second citizenship and passport in different countries in as little as 3 to 6 months through a government set investment.

As a local trusted Citizenship By Investment partner, the roles and responsibilities of Migrate World India go beyond the usual paperwork – we assist our clients every step of the way in their journey to becoming internationally mobile entrepreneurs. We also work with the local authorized property brokers to ensure our clients’ investments add value to their portfolio. Operating within the law of various countries, we offer complete assistance in all legal services. We do an extensive study of the market and after an in-depth evaluation of the region, identify exciting possibilities for our clients and provide unique tailored services to cater to every client’s needs.

Moreover, all this is achieved while adhering to universal sustainability principles as participants of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC).

Q. According to you, what do you see as the future of global citizenship services. How do you think this space will evolve in India over the years?

Ever since the pandemic hit, we’ve witnessed a 40% increase in our enquiries, especially from Indian citizens. Economic uncertainties have compelled wealthy individuals to re-evaluate their investment strategy, who are now considering spreading their investment portfolio over several jurisdictions and having assets in diverse locations. Here it is worthy to note that India is one of the top 10 fastest growing countries with High Net Worth Individuals. Studies also indicate that the recent turmoil caused by the pandemic and the global economic crisis has pushed some countries to expand their visa offerings to compensate for the losses incurred in tax revenue.

Additionally, foreign citizenship also provides the benefits of having a stronger passport to avail visa-free travel to other countries.

Currently, the Indian Passport ranks 84th in the Global Passport Index and allows visa free or visa on arrival access to only 58 countries. This puts it behind many other Asian countries as well.

Holding a stronger passport like the ones from Grenada or St. Kitts allow visa free travel to over 150 countries and is an enticing reason for gaining foreign citizenship.

To put it succinctly, the future of global citizenship services, especially in India, holds immense promise.

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Q. COVID has changed everything for the travel industry. How are you coping with the crisis? What is your revival plan?

Like all other industries, we too are missing the face-to-face interaction with our clients, both existing and potential. While we continue to interact with them through popular platforms that have emerged out of the pandemic like Zoom and Google Meets, we are very excited about meeting and servicing our clients in person when the situation eases. In anticipation, in addition to our flagship office in New Delhi, we have expanded into a second office in Mumbai and are gearing up to open in other Indian cities very shortly. Internationally, Migrate World is headquartered in Dubai, with affiliate offices and on ground staff across the globe.

Q. In the light of the prevailing pandemic, what are your assessments and expectations regarding restarting and revitalizing tourism, especially international tourism?

We are very positive in our outlook for the future, for both international travel and tourism. People have been grounded far too long. As soon as the belief that it is safe to travel again gains momentum, the world will be on the go, yet again, this time around with perhaps renewed fervor to make up for lost time. Here too, I would like to reiterate the importance of a strong passport offering true travel freedom through its visa-free travel offerings.

Munnmunn Marwah, COO, Think Strawberries

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27 Interview

Effectively navigating through the pandemic with Munnmunn Marwah, COO, Think Strawberries The last 15 months have been unprecedented for the globalmtravel industry. It has been extremely hard for companies operating in the sector to cope with the pandemic inducedcrisis. But there are organisations which have prudently beennavigating prudently through the crisis. One such organisation is Think Strawberries, a leading travel representation companies in India. How have they been doing so? To know this and more, we spoke to Munnmunn Marwah, the COO of the company. According to Marwah, resilience, alertness and innovation have been the buzzwords that have helped them survive during these trying times.

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Q. How would you describe the overall impact of the pandemic on your organisation?

It has been a very challenging period for us. The pandemic hit us in the form of an unprecedented global challenge and it was unlike any other crisis that we had faced in the past. It greatly impacted all sectors of the industry, although perhaps the travel and tourism sector was among the hardest hit.

We,at Think Strawberries, too had to bear the brunt of the pandemic with international borders sealed, tourism flights limited and strict quarantine measures in host destinations. In India, cities went into intermittent lockdowns when the first wave of COVID hit the nation.

It was extremely important for us to stay focussed and provide our clients with the best possible support and service to prepare for the re-opening of tourism. We wanted to be ready once the market re-opened and the industry revived in a few months.

First, we prioritised the health and safety of our employees by implementing Work from Home (WFH) policy days before the Government announced lockdown on 22nd March, 2020.

To make sure that there was no disruption and our work and teams continued in a seamless manner, we introduced necessary technological tools needed for a virtual business model and for communication both to internal and external stake holders.

We outlined three priorities for our clients - Education, Post-Covid Plans and Campaigns and Market Updates. We were continuously in touch with our trade and media partners through virtual roadshows, webinars, e-mailers, tele-calling to keep our clients topof-mind and updated in the minds of our valuable partners.

Today, we continue to prepare for the future by keeping our eye on the ball and staying updated with the dynamically evolving global scenario keeping our mindset flexible and agile to the changing environment whilst trying to remain resilient in the face of challenges.

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Q. What was the biggest challenge during the first wave?

The biggest challenge was to stay afloat during the first wave of COVID-19. We had to consciously ‘unlearn’ to devise new ways of adapting to the new normal. Along with the uncertainty of not knowing when the first wave will subside. COVID as a phenomenon was new to everyone; it posed challenges that no one was prepared for. During these times, our discerning team members implemented innovative strategies to make sure that we survive through the first wave. Additionally, we supervised and monitored the situation closely to ascertain that our destination partners remain on top of travellers’ minds once the virus is contained.

Q. How did your organisation navigate through the lockdown last year and thereafter?

Resilience, alertness and innovation are the buzzwords for us during these trying times. We have not been leaving any stone unturned to assist our clients on the areas they should focus on.

Also, we are carefully identifying and exploring all possible avenues we would need to leverage, to strategically position and build recall for our various partners.

Q. What areas did you focus on to mitigate the impact of the crisis on your company?

Along with highlighting our clients’ services and the safety measures that they were undertaking for travellers’ smooth and healthy stay, we focused on modifying our own stance as a responsible business. For us, like everyone else, health and hygiene remained, and still remains, the most important factor in choosing the partners that we would like to collaborate with in future. Additionally, technology made our lives simpler during the pandemic as we scaled our digital knowledge and business applications.

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Q. The new wave has also hit the industry hard. Do you think travel enterprises can survive this crisis?

This is one of the most challenging times for the travel and hospitality industry and unfortunately, we have to wait for it to play out till the vaccine is deployed across all source and destination markets. While positive news on the vaccination drive is making rounds, challenges remain. In these critical times, everyone should pledge to abide by all necessary rules and regulations laid out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other institutes of similar stature, to minimise the impact of the second Covid wave in India.

Humans are hardwired to travel since it is an innate need; once the virus is contained, people will start travelling again with a renewed zeal. This crisis has taught us to remain strong and be united to break this chain. But, for now, let us all play our parts by staying at home and getting vaccinated to ride out the storm together.

Q. According to you, what lessons should the tourism industry learn from this unprecedentedn crisis?

COVID-19 forced us to review the way we do our business propelling us to keep innovation at the forefront of our marketing plans along with health, hygiene and sustainability.

Most importantly, it gave us the lesson of gratitude for life, the value of family bonds and staying connected.

Eventually, we will have to learn to co-exist with Covid while capitalising on increasing digitalisation and building a stronger and resource-efficient future. We will be able to transform tourism only through collective action and international cooperation; we will have to continuously come up with omnichannel strategies to meet our consumers’ demands.

V Ravindran, Regional Manager of SriLankan Airlines for India & Bangladesh

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35 Interview

Weathering a StormAn interview with V Ravindran, Regional Manager, Sri Lankan Airlines on the effects of the pandemic on the aviation industry In an interview with TnH, V Ravindran, Regional Manager of SriLankan Airlines for India & Bangladesh, shares the perspective of the national carrier of the island nation on how to restart tourism and how airlines can rebuild themselves post the Covid-19 crisis. For early restarting of international travel, Ravindran is pinning his hopes on the rolling out of vaccination campaigns in most countries.

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Q. In view of the prevailing pandemic situation, what is your outlook as far as international travel is concerned?

The present pandemic has hit us all. The travel industry is the first to get affected and is going to be the last to recover. It would take a few more months for people to look out for international travel unless there are compelling reasons. We would expect the winter to bounce back for air travel with the rolling out of vaccination campaigns in most countries.

Q. How do you look at the current wave of the covid-19 raging in South Asia and its impact on the region’s aviation sector?

The facts are evident, and the aviation sector is heavily victimized in terms of additional cost and less demand for leisure travel in general. Covid-19’s current way looks way too serious than last year. The rising number of cases has indeed deferred a recovery.

But increasing vaccination drive helps us in being optimistic.

Q. In this background, when do you foresee the restarting and revival of international travel?

International travel was undoubtedly getting back to normal but again had to go on hold due to the second wave. However, in my opinion, unless extreme events related to Covid break out, winter 2021 would be a revival period for international travel. Soon, we will enter a phase where all will be planning on our next travel destination.

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Q. What factors do you think will be critical for the restart of overall tourism?

The concern is safety. If you look at International travel data of 2021 till date, you may find that many travelling activities have been happening lately.

We need to take care of the people of our country and the people who are visiting us. SriLankan Airlines have been very particular about its COVID-19 travel rules and restrictions.

Major factors are destination safety, competitive and efficient PCR test facilities, effective vaccination programs in the countries involved and level of confidence among passengers about covid19 global and country scenario.

Q. What would be your strategy to navigate through the crisis? PostCovid, how do you think airlines can rebuild themselves?

We have to commence operations on a small scale to build up the confidence among the trade and slowly but steadily expand that based on the market and potential demand. We have been doing a lot of virtual training sessions with our on-ground executives and front worriers. We will soon come up with new marketing strategies for each potential market.

Q. As the entire tourism and aviation industry has been hit hard by Covid 19 pandemic, going forward, what changes do you see happening in

aviation businesses to survive?

Every cost item to be critically evaluated and any capital or investment in brands may vary due to the liquidity constraints; some of the inflight/meal features of the onboard services will also be casualties on account of Covid19 pandemic.

Nishant Pitti, Co-Founder & CEO, EaseMyTrip.com

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41 Interview

Ring THE BellAn Interview with Nishant Pitti, Co-Founder & CEO, EaseMyTrip.com, on successfully listing the first OTA on the Indian stock exchange In an exclusive interview, Nishant Pitti, Co-Founder & CEO, EaseMyTrip.com, tells us how he and his two brothers founded a travel start-up, which is one of the top leading OTAs in India today, and the first online travel portal to be listed in the country.

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Q. Tell us a little about your early career. What drove you to become an entrepreneur and venture into the travel sector?

During my college days, we three brothers used to book air tickets for our father and relatives which at that point in time was dominated by offline agents. This was our first interaction with the travel industry where we realised that the offline agents used to charge hefty commissions, owing to less transparency in pricing.

This led us to start a small venture as an offline agent where we used to charge very minimal commissions and make good profits.

We soon realised the pain points that an offline travel agent was facing, and saw an opportunity to address them. This led to the start of EaseMyTrip with the primary aim to provide convenience to travel agents by addressing their problems and helping them earn better commissions. Foreseeing the future of travel, we soon started EaseMyTrip.com in 2011 with the central objective to ease travel for everyone and offer services without charging any convenience fees.

Q. When and how did you come up with the idea of EaseMyTrip? Tell us about your other partners with whom you founded EaseMyTrip.

As mentioned above, EaseMyTrip was born to address the pain points that offline travel agents were facing in their day to day business. Since then we have remained customer-focused and provided the best quality services to our agents/customers. We started with being a B2B portal in 2008, moved to B2C in 2011 and currently offer ‘end-to-end travel solutions which include air tickets, hotels and holiday packages, rail tickets and bus tickets as well as ancillary value-added services.

I along with my brothers, Rikant and Prashant, founded EaseMyTrip.

It was a typical small start-up where we used to manage operations from a small office. Right from operations to development to cancellations were being managed by us manually with the support from two-three more employees.

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Q. What was the hardest part in the early stage of the company’s growth?

What has been the biggest challenge you faced until you established your business firmly?

Our focus right from the start has been on our customers and the hardest part in the early stages was to provide quality service to our customers with limited support of our team. Also, remaining focussed on a consistent long-term vision neglecting various lucrative short-term incentives was an added challenge.

The biggest challenge in our whole journey till now has been to maintain our lean and efficient operations while growing at a rate much higher than that of the market. With large OTA players backed by foreign investors launching a price war in the market, offering huge discounts, it was a challenging task for us to define our value proposition and live up to the expectations of our loyal customers while remaining profitable all the while.

Q. How much money did you start with? How did you fund your subsequent growth?

EaseMyTrip is currently the second largest and the only profitable OTA in India. The company was started with an initial funding of appox. INR 10,000 and since then the organization has been funding its own growth. The company has been profitable since its inception and has been generating cash year-on-year (YoY) with complete ownership with the founders previous to our IPO.

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Q. What were your marketing strategies to grow your business?

We have had a very differentiated marketing strategy with a mix of both online and offline presence across the country. Online marketing is the core of our marketing with a strategic presence across all major online mediums. The offline branding is received via a network of over 59,000 offline agents, in addition to the various ATL and BTL activities.

With a loyal customer base and high customer repeat ratio, wordof-mouth has also been a great source of branding for EaseMyTrip which has helped us in keeping a check on our marketing costs.

Q. How has your revenue grown over the years? How much was it in the last fiscal?

With a consistent approach since the beginning, our revenues have grown at a CAGR of over 47% over the past two years, much ahead of the market growth. EaseMytrip recorded a gross booking revenue of over INR 4,200 Cr in FY20 with the being the only profitable OTA in India.

Q. How did you continue aggressive growth after achieving scale?

Staying constant on the value proposition offering for our customers has been the key for the company’s success and has led to its aggressive growth. EaseMyTrip’s central objective of easing travel and providing quality service to our customers has helped us sustain our growth even after achieving scale.

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Q. What advice would you give to those who have just started their companies?

The only advice that I would like to give to those who have started their companies is that you need to clearly define the long-term vision of your business and the value proposition you are offering to your customers. Any business decision taken thereafter should be in sync with your vision and value proposition that you are planning to offer. Only those who stay focussed and are consistent in their path are the ones that achieve success.

Q. The COVID has changed everything for the travel industry. How are you coping with the crisis? What is your revival plan?

Indian Travel and Tourism sector has been affected heavily due to pandemic with both corporate and leisure travel reducing to an alltime low. The same impact can be seen on bookings by us as well.

There is a significant dip in the bookings but in order to cope with the situation we have been very prompt in reducing some of our cost streams to ensure profitability even during the pandemic. We as an organization try to find an opportunity in every situation and during this pandemic as well, we have taken initiatives to improvise our existing systems and processes making us more efficient.

EaseMyTrip has always been a customer-centric organization and we plan to reboot our business by following the same approach of offering customers the products that are in line with their preferences. We are trying to anticipate the new normal in travel post-pandemic and taking proactive measures to target the future requests of our customers.

Q. How things have been for EaseMyTrip post IPO? EaseMyTrip launched its IPO on Mar 8, 2021, which was subscribed approx. 160 times. Subsequently, the company was listed on NSE and BSE on 19th March 2021 and became the first online travel portal to be listed in India. The listing has added another milestone to the organization’s journey and has given our customers greater confidence in the security of their bookings. With EaseMyTrip becoming a known name and brand to the people of India and with our fair pricing policy, we shall achieve even greater heights once the travel sector is back in shape and people start to execute their travel plans.

Shikha Mishra, Tourism PR & Marketing Specialist

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51 Interview

Shikha Mishra, A tourism PR & marketing specialist’s, perspective on Restarting Tourism In an interview with TnH, Shikha Mishra, a tourism PR & marketing specialist, shares her perspective on how to restart tourism post-Covid-19.

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Q. In the light of the prevailing pandemic, what are your assessment and expectations regarding restarting and revitalizing tourism, especially international tourism?

The all-important tourism sector -- be it domestic or International employs billions globally and many millions of Indians both directly and indirectly. What had seemed like an optimistic revival with tourism that had just about begun bouncing back after the first wave, has again been massively decimated and we all have been collectively blown away. Caught completely unaware by the second wave and killer mutant variants of the virus has strained our country’s health infrastructure to a breaking point. This has been exacerbated by the large population and limited resources that have left Central and State governments scrambling.

Q. What were the areas you focussed on to mitigate the impact of the crisis on your company?

Along with highlighting our clients’ services and the safety measures that they were undertaking for travellers’ smooth and healthy stay, we focused on modifying our own stance as a responsible business. For us, like everyone else, health and hygiene remained, and still remains, the most important factor in choosing the partners that we would like to collaborate with in future. Additionally, technology made our lives simpler during the pandemic as we scaled our digital knowledge and business applications.

The current restrictions due to the second wave have again crippled the tourism sector, which was struggling to recover from the initial losses suffered by businesses in 2020. During the first lockdown in 2020, people still had savings and hope for the future. But that is now a distant memory, as even after the current second wave subsides in India, many small and medium establishments might not be in a position to re-start. This is likely to have a devastating impact on several million households as incomes continue to plummet and unemployment will rise.

Aviation and other travel sectors such as hospitality, DMOs, DMCs, Travel Agencies, MICE and Student Group Operators struggled to stay afloat during the first wave of the pandemic. But with the second wave, the situation is now grim and bleak as restrictions continue to rise. Reports suggest that air and train travel has seen a 50 per cent reduction over the past few weeks. The fact that people are now even scared to step out of their houses indicates that the larger travel sector is also in for severe battering.

While airlines were slowly starting to increase revenue margins, the deadlier mutant strains have put India on the ‘No Fly’ list with several countries banning arrivals of Indians to their borders and also advising their citizens not to travel into India.

For the travel sector, the recovery will not depend on when the country reaches its Covid-19 peak but whether people will gain the confidence back, plus have adequate funds to spend on travel. At the moment, the outlook for the travel and tourism sector does not look very promising.

Q. When do you expect a substantial recovery in international travel? What are the factors upon which tourism revival will be depending postCovid-19?

This definitely lies in the ability of the government to control the raging Pandemic and the vaccination drives. India’s PR image has taken a complete hammering internationally and within the country -- unless the ‘feel good’ factor revives, incomes start coming in and confidence rises, the revival of tourism will take a long time.

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Q. According to you, what should be the approaches of different governments and tourism boards for sustainable restart and revival of tourism?

The challenge at this moment is that the second wave of the pandemic has effectively ended the tourism industry. There has to a policy or grant in place by the government where businesses must be given salary cover for employees, working capital to cover operational costs, and relaxation on loan repayments. Without this, it will be very difficult for the tourism industry to revive in a timely manner.

Q. In the post-Covid world, what are the international destinations that would have an edge over others?

According to a new report by Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), in collaboration with the Global Health Security Index, TCI Research, Tripadvisor, and the World Economic Forum, future travelers are likely to gravitate towards destinations that are seen to be clean, healthy, and safe, and to have managed the pandemic relatively well. Destinations with shorter flying time will also fare better in the long run.

Q. How crucial will be the role of DMOs and organizations representing them in reviving Tourism postCovid-19?

The role will be very crucial as there will be new energy and a new way of doing business and all the previously winning playbooks and toolkits will be thrown out of the window. New strategies for Sales, Marketing, Social Media and PR will have to be put in place and implemented. As DMOs and tourism representation bodies start from the ground up to re-establish themselves as brands and the hotels/ countries/attractions they represent or work within India, it is an arduous road ahead for the tourism sector.

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Q. Post-Covid -19, what key trends do you expect in international tourism?

In the revival phase, which has already started unfolding internationally there are some interesting trends that are emerging.

‘Revenge Tourism’ is a strong trend as people have developed cabin fever being isolated for the better part of the year and are itching to travel and are hell-bent on it. For example, the citizens of the United States are vaccinated; they are opting to visit countries in Europe that are perceived as ‘safe’, or are heading to islands such as Hawaii or the Caribbean which are a short flying time for them and are naturally seen as ‘isolated’. Safaris to Africa from the United States are gaining popularity as again there is a perception of them being closer to nature and wildlife as being ‘safer’. Also, these countries have very effectively been able to manage the perception in the Media about the pandemic, so they are seeing a quicker road to recovery. Countries such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka in the subcontinent will see a faster tourism recovery as they have been able to effectively manage the pandemic and inoculate their citizens.

Unfortunately, seeing the current situation it looks like India will be the last one to open up and it will take another 2-5 years post opening up for tourism to get back to the pre-pandemic levels here.

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