Do you feel that at times you are a character in the movie “Groundhog Day”? In that 1993 movie, Bill Murray plays Phil, a weatherman, who finds himself trapped in a blizzard and forced to relive the same day over and over again until he makes the right choices.
One of his quotes – “What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same and nothing that you did mattered?”
It’s beginning to get that way in travel.
Businesses can do all we can on the ground, pivot this, pivot that, micro market, macro think, build new product, rebuild old stuff, live stream to keep people’s dreams alive so that travel doesn’t die …
Indeed, this week, I watched James Liang (pictured below), chairman of Trip.com Group, put on an Emperor’s costume for a live streaming session to sell tours and activities, and there seemed to be lots of food being offered, like roast duck which fair made my mouth water.
But none of this is going to matter much if the Emperors At The Top don’t get their act together and agree on One Way to get travel going again.
The current protocols are so confusing. Some countries require this, some don’t. Some countries want to, some don’t.
Fact is, every country needs tourism to get back on its feet – it’s a $9 trillion contribution to the world’s economy (10.3% of global GDP) that travel and tourism is estimated to make, including supporting some 330 million jobs, most of which are evaporating even as the Emperors fiddle.
Now I get it. Travel is complex, fragmented – which is why we are all in business actually, it’s such a huge, wide, deep industry. It takes many parties, many parts, to stitch up one trip.
And it is this complexity that could prove to be its downfall.
In Kevin May’s Phocuswire article, he asks the question, “Who is in charge of getting us out of this crisis and who will lead the world to save the jobs and secure the futures of the many millions of people globally?”
The answer is, no one, yet everyone.
Finally the World Travel & Tourism Council has written to the G7 countries and Australia, South Korea and Spain, to ask governments to convene a COVID-19 global summit in a bid to “rescue the world from this unprecedented crisis.”
They suggest four measures:
- Wearing a mask should be mandatory on all modes of transport.
- Rapid and reliable testing before departure and/or after arrival.
- Quarantine only for those with a positive test.
- Reinforcement of global protocols and standardisation of health and safety measures.
In Singapore, I hear murmurings of the government continuing to push boundaries literally. It’s one of the most proactive countries in the region in trying to open its borders.
As Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said, when he announced opening of borders with New Zealand and Brunei, it’s an invitation to the world that Singapore is open for business. “The aviation sector, Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines do not just concern the sector itself, but are linked to the whole economy,” he said.
It’s a unilateral move. The decision allows visitors from Brunei or New Zealand who have remained in their country in the last consecutive 14 days prior to their visit to Singapore not to have to serve a stay-home notice when they arrive. However, they will need to take a Covid-19 test upon their arrival at the airport, and be allowed to go about their activities in Singapore only after receiving a negative test result.
What they will face on their return is another story but it’s a step in the right direction – if only other countries would reciprocate.
It’s like the girl who wants to dance but no one else wants to. But as we know, someone has to make the first move.
And I hold out hope – although someone told me yesterday hope is not a strategy, which I beg to disagree with because hope is what keeps us going – that the People At The Top will see the light and realise the right moves have to be made, that can be a balance between safety and saving the economy.
Dance with the girl, damn it.
