Tourism stakeholders have come up with a raft of measures to ensure the sustenance and recovery of the tourism and hospitality Industry during and post the Covid-19 crisis.
Speaking during an online tourism stakeholder conference christened ‘Post Covid-19 Leap Forward’ Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said that the industry needs to ensure it adapts to the currently evolving scenarios to ensure that it recovers much faster.
“We have to restart and reset the industry from a new slate going forward, we also need to make sure we utilize the ever-evolving digital world which we are all now compatible with, ensure that conservation and wildlife which are a key component of the industry are enhanced, advocate for legislation and re-engineering of the industry, establish recovery funds for SME’s, and relook the aviation and travel sector. Without aviation, there is no tourism, configuration of the sector is therefore paramount” Said CS Balala
The conference had brought together local and international tourism industry professionals to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Tourism industry locally.
The tourism sector is currently one of the hardest-hit by the outbreak of COVID-19, with the outbreak presenting the sector with a major and evolving challenge. The impact has been felt on both travel supply and demand, particularly in Kenya’s source markets.
The CS noted that the key component is to change the mindset for domestic and regional markets which will be key and also to bear in mind that issues like age demographics will be important as younger people will be more likely to travel than the older generation.
During the conference, Damian Cook the CEO of E-Tourism Frontiers a strategic tourism consultancy specializing in change management said that the industry will need to embrace a new age post-Covid-19 that will require players to be alive to the new dynamics that will be at play.
The tourism players agreed that more emphasis needed to be placed on local and regional tourism post-Covid-19 since the international traveler will be less willing to travel immediately due to the effects of the current lockdowns and effects of Covid-19 globally.
They also agreed that the industry needs to leverage on the adversity to ensure that it resumes in a much better situation than it was pre-Covid-19. This will be by harnessing and responding to the crisis through ways that create a bright future for the industry post the crisis.
Travel restrictions and flight cancellations and frequency reduction have significantly diminished the supply of both domestic and international services while demand continues to retract.
