Sounding Off: Travel brands walk a tightrope over vaccines

Peter Kern

"Unfortunately, the road to full travel recovery remains bumpy until more of the world is vaccinated."

Quote from Peter Kern, president and CEO of Expedia Group, in an article this week covering the company's second quarter earnings for 2021.

Each Friday, PhocusWire dissects and debates an industry trend or new development covered by PhocusWire that week.

The travel, tourism and hospitality industry is moving from a period of survival to one of hope.

Hope that a recovery will come and will return many of the businesses to their former selves.

Optimism around that recovery has already been quietly shoved to one side by many to acknowledge that realism must play an important role in the strategies that are put in place over the remaining months of 2020 and into next year.

Much of the recovery effort needed in the industry revolves around the take-up of vaccinations againt the COVID-19 virus, by both customers and staff.

Many countries are mandating a proof of vaccination for entry by visitors, for example - a policy that for most is not a particularly controversial one.

Step forward the United States Of America, which has managed to politicize the entire process thanks in part to the ongoing splits across society in the country that have accelerated since Donald Trump took over the presidency in 2017.

Travel brands typically shy away from politics, yet they know to get the industry and people moving again that they must endorse vaccines - which then has the potential to alienate the large numbers of customers who have chosen not to get jabbed.

It's an awkward situation that some travel brands may find themselves in, yet one they can no longer avoid. It may be damaging to their reputations if they keep silent or, most likely, if they do come out with a strong, pro-vaccine message.

But uncertain times require bold leadership and positions. There is an argument that the sector will not recover at the speed it wants if its brands fail to follow the science and unless they do their part to urge people to take up the offer of vaccinations.

Where such apparent leadership and requirements get a little murky is with saying one thing and not following through in full. Such a strategy can be equally damaging.

The influential pundit and thorn in the side of Big Tech, professor Scott Galloway, took Uber to task this week for mandating that its office employees take the vaccine but not expecting the same of its drivers - the very people, arguably, who are most at risk of contracting or spreading infections.

The industry is not out of the woods yet, by any stretch of the imagination.