“Even in tiny Singapore, we have our own small ocean to explore. I’ve booked a boat trip to an outer island, no passport required. Where you are determines your outlook, but we need new eyes. Freedom, grab it when you can.”
The previous week, I got so excited I nearly fell off the high chair I was sitting on when hosting the WiT Virtual Summit – John Brown, CEO of Agoda, told us he was calling in from Samui, my favourite island. It’s so pristine, so quiet, it’s like 40 years ago – he sounded like a kid who’d just discovered candy.
A couple of days later, Kei Shibata and Aya Aso, our partners in WiT Japan & North Asia, sent me images of them having dinner together in Karuizawa. I was with them same time last year. I could almost smell the forests of Karuizawa and taste their food from where I was . Travel between prefectures is allowed now, the Sea of Japan is stirring back to life.
Then from the South China Sea, Jennifer Cronin, president of Wharf Hotels, sent me images of her walks as she starts to explore the 265 islands Hong Kong has to offer its residents. I could almost smell the sea air and feel the wind in my hair.
Yesterday, I literally jumped out of my seat with excitement when Kai Hattendorf, CEO of UFI (the global association of the exhibition industry) told me he had just arrived in Paris by fast train from Germany. “On the train, I put my mask on,” he demonstrated with aplomb. “Then when I arrived in Paris, I got on a scooter. Now I am going to visit my parents. Borders in Europe are open,” he announced with glee.
I remembered the last time I was in Paris, freezing my butt off in an open-topped Citroen DS, trying to look cool during the streets of Paris tour when I was, in fact, cold. I can almost smell the frigid winter air from last December.
I then had a call with Sophie Cairns, author of “Climbing The Seven Volcanoes: Searching For Strength”, who now lives in the Scottish Highlands, and she’s looking forward to climbing the literally hundreds of Munro mountains (defined as over 3,000 feet) in the highlands. A world traveller, she’s now going to travel local. (Sophie will be featured in an upcoming episode of Season 2 of “A Life In Travel” podcast)
Then over to India, which is still trying to climb its Covid-19 mountain – I had a Zoom call with Ram Badrinathan, my old comrade-in-arms when he was at Phocuswright, and who’s now back in travel with Videc. Ram’s in Mumbai and as we talked, I listened to all-too familiar sounds of lockdown – fan whirring, kids shouting, wife cooking, pots clanging. “The situation is very unclear here,” he said, “lots of confusion.”
On the other side of the Indian Ocean, the Maldives prepares for reopening on July 15 and the resumption of international flights. Can you imagine the number of airlines fighting for landing slots? There are 1190 coral islands and 26 atolls which have not had a single foreign visitor for the last three months. They tick all the boxes of what travellers want right now – remote, nature, beaches, naturally socially distanced islands and villas.
Across the Pacific Ocean, well, there’s the US. As July 4 approaches, it doesn’t look like they will be achieving independence from the virus anytime soon. Re-opening, then re-closing, infections spiking, doom and gloom all across the media – every disaster movie ever made in Hollywood couldn’t compare to what is being portrayed in the mass media.
In Singapore, I made my first domestic trip out of my neighbourhood to a restaurant in Orchard Road, a province unto its own as far as I am concerned. I fantasised about being in the Mediterranean sea as I dipped my fluffly-yet-crispy pita bread into a tasty hummus dip, sliced through succulent beef kebab and feasted on the best baklava I’ve ever tasted. It took me back to carefree days in Crete.
I was impressed by how fast the restaurant had made the switch to being contactless and cashless. You scan a QR code, order online, pay online and the food arrives. The only contact was a welcome one, from the chef of Pistachio who wanted to express his appreciation to us for being there. I appreciated the pat on my back.
While we in Singapore can’t travel yet – we are not among the list of 14 countries allowed into Europe yet and it is reported that the list is based on reciprocity, so let’s not take it too personally – we can travel through food.
So as travel recovers, it feels like we are in different oceans and it’s like the same boat we were all in together at the start of the pandemic has splintered into different vessels with each trying to find its own way to shore to save the shipwrecked among us.
This observation (although he didn’t quite use the same nautical terms) was made by Ross Veitch, CEO and co-founder of Wego, when he was speaking about the Middle East market during our Virtual Summit. He had watched TV interviews with travel leaders like Steve Hafner of KAYAK and Brian Chesky of Airbnb and noted how particularly pessimistic they were about how fast their businesses were going to recover. “I think people have a natural tendency to extrapolate current conditions in their current location,” he said.
Which means your outlook depends on where you are. His was decidedly rosier than Chesky’s or Hafner’s. Extrapolating from current conditions in the Middle East, he said, “I’m significantly more bullish than some of my counterparts running more US-centric businesses.”
The Middle East is very resilient, he said, it’s dealt with multiple wars and political instability. “But somehow life goes on and people keep travelling, you know, it’s been that way, all the way through. I think that perhaps people who live in the Middle East are a little bit better at calculating and accepting risks in their daily lives … I think they’re going to be quicker to accept and adapt to the new world we’re now finding ourselves living in.”
Like Asia, he said, business in the Middle East is largely done by “just turning up in person for face to face meetings and getting to know your business partners, over lunches, dinners … I just don’t think it’s going to change that significantly for the Middle East-based business people.”
That could explain why the restaurant I went to was pretty packed at lunch time – it felt almost like back to normal, but with a new contactless and cashless experience, which is what we’ve been trying to do for years.
And now that I’ve taken my first domestic trip, I can’t wait for the next – which is tonight. I may go Korean-fusion – two trips in one. Why not? And the following week, I’ve booked a boat trip to an outer island – no passports needed.
Even in tiny Singapore, we have our small bit of ocean to explore. Yes, I’ve got a whole new bucket list now that I can’t take my passport anywhere. Freedom. Grab it where you can.
