Industry stalwarts from various parts of the world were invited to pen letters to the WiT Community and then deliver them at the recently concluded WiT Virtual Summit. What these letters highlighted were the nostalgia we all feel around travel, the hard reality of what has happened to travel, but also the determination to recover.
This crisis has also served up huge opportunities for introspection and 
bought some of us some perspective. Travelstart’s Stephan Ekbergh, writing from Capetown, South Africa was brutally honest. “We tried to satisfy every desire for more, new, different, unique. We got high on our own lust for growth and we were intoxicated about all talks of disruption, disintermediation, big data, machine learning, personalisation.
“I’m standing on the shoulder of my parents and grandparents. Some died on the frontlines in Russia…I owe everything to them. It was because of them I could enjoy my freedom and travel anywhere I wanted.”
The letters, like the one delivered from Australia by former chairman & CEO, Viator & Rome2rio Rod Cuthbert, showed how anxious we are to get back to our lives, pre-Covid. “Right now it feels like we’re standing on a starting line waiting for the starter’s gun to go off, but it just won’t.”
Jennifer Cronin, president of Wharf Hotels, penning her letter from Hong
Kong, shared about how the crisis has led to collaboration that might not otherwise have happened. “From danger, and the social unrest in Hong Kong last year than an opportunity was born. The Heritage Tourism Board is a group of passionate like-minded business leaders who represent the iconic global brands founded in Hong Kong who have shown the world what is true luxury hospitality. Through the love of Hong Kong, we have collaborated to promote the city’s treasures and the pure spirit of Hong Kong’s people [through] the video Hong Kong Our Home.
“In our representation as the HTB to HKTB, we have found a voice for our tourism recovery, and we are now already enjoying the benefits of Hong Kongers holidaying at home,” she said.
With introspection also comes gratitude, for things and people that in better times, we might have taken for granted or overlooked. 
Singapore Tourism Board’s CEO Keith Tan used his letter to express that gratitude.
“While the road to recovery is long and going to be difficult, I want to celebrate and honour the professionalism, the agility and the perseverance of the people who make up the tourism industry here in Singapore,” he wrote.
From the Middle East, Ross Veitch, CEO and founder of Wego remained optimistic, despite seeing its revenues fall to a meagre 2 percent for the same period last year. But quick government actions to contain the virus have paid off, and Wego is seeing search volumes now at 25 percent over last year.
“People in the Middle East are very resilient…[they] are a bit better at calculating and accepting risks in their daily lives and I think they’re going to be quicker to accept and adapt to the new world we are now finding ourselves living in,” said Veitch.
Finally, from Saudi Arabia, Muzzammil Ahussain, executive vice 
president, consumer travel, Seera Group, shared the confidence that the region has in travel – some 73% of respondents to a survey said they want to travel as soon as restrictions are lifted. Domestic tourism, while never really a key point of focus for the industry, might just be the saving force.
“We’re trying to help Saudis explore many parts of our country that are up and coming but not so well known…showcasing the things that people have never really known about their country,” said Ahussain.
Agreeing with Veitch that the Middle East consumer does handle risks well, and is “always willing to travel”, Ahussain sees that as a “good opportunity”.
