In summer, thoughts
usually turn to a holiday. Southeast Asia has traditionally been a favorite of
international tourists, particularly of those from Europe, but in this respect,
like so many others, 2020 is different.
With
the travel and tourism sector already reeling from the last four months of
global lockdowns and the suspension of almost all travel, local and
international, it’s hard to see how the travel and tourism sector will recover
in the near- to mid-term.
This
is an industry that is fundamental to the economic health of Southeast Asia,
contributing about 12.1% of the region’s GDP last year and 13.3% of employment,
according to World Travel & Tourism Council figures released in April.
Online travel, the bedrock of thousands of startups in the region, is now a $34
billion economy and has had an annual growth of 15% in the region since 2015 up
until 2019.
The
impact of COVID cannot be underestimated. The Asia Pacific region stands to
lose approximately 63 million jobs and $1 trillion in GDP, as international
tourism plunges by up to 80%
this year over 2019. This is by far the worst result for international
tourism since 1950 and puts an abrupt end to a 10-year period of sustained
growth since the 2009 financial crisis.
While
the crisis continues to play out, we believe we will see the sector evolve and
change significantly before we can anticipate a full recovery.
Domestic tourism will be the first to bounce back
Domestic
travel and tourism, local business travel and budget leisure trips will be the
first parts of the industry to recover. Research among global tourists shows
that as many as 90% of those ready to travel want to start domestically and
that safety concerns play an important role in deciding the next travel
destination.
Governments
in Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Japan are doing their best to encourage
this with Asian governments throwing hard cash at encouraging domestic tourism.
Singapore is launching a $32.4 million domestic tourism campaign,
Japan is offering more than $12 billion in travel subsidies to boost tourism, Thailand
has just launched a $641 million scheme to boost domestic tourism through
subsidies on accommodation, transport and e-vouchers that can be used for food
and other services, and Vietnam has since April been encouraging
locals to explore their own country with discounted fares and increased
domestic flights.
Before
COVID, 29% of guests in Asia Pacific hotels were domestic travelers. Ideally
this number will rise significantly. We are already seeing some evidence of
local tourism coming back. In China, where the virus first broke out, domestic
airline passenger levels have grown steadily, and now sit at 50% of pre-crisis
levels. Hotel occupancy rates have also improved since the depths of the crisis
and are now back to 60% of last year’s levels.
Domestic
travel and tourism will be expected to substitute foreign tourism demand, at
least for the time being. For some countries, this will not nearly be enough,
especially in terms of generating foreign currency revenues.
Regional tourism to become much more important to the sector
Of
all the regions in the world that are familiar with dealing with a pandemic,
Southeast Asia has both the experience and the track record of recovery. The
importance of regional tourism for the recovery of Southeast Asia's tourism and
travel sector cannot be underestimated. In 2018, ASEAN tourism represented
45.2% of the total number of visitors, China followed on the second place with
12.4% and the European Union on a third place with 8.5%.
Looking
ahead, China's growing importance might surge even further. It was the first
country to be affected by the virus but also among the first to recover, and a
survey by C9 Hotelworks has stated that 53% of Chinese travelers are planning
overseas travel in 2020.
Agreed
international standards for COVID-19 testing would accelerate the return of
regional tourism and governments have been exploring the idea of “travel
bubbles” similar to the one implemented between Singapore
and China, whereby visitors from selected countries would not have to
follow the 14-day quarantine measures.
Changing traveler demographics
Gen
Zs, millennials and budget travelers will be the first to venture out. The
young and the non-family segment are more open to resuming travel in the first
wave after the crisis. For example in China, on Tomb Sweeping Day, the first
holiday following the pandemic, 60% of the people who booked trips were below
the age of 30 - a significant increase from 43% in the same period last year.
We
anticipate fewer travel groups as people plan to travel mainly with immediate
family members. Group and guided-tour packages have dramatically declined in
popularity: a McKinsey
report shows that only 10% of travelers would be likely to take big
group tours for their next trips. Sixty-eight percent regard them as impossible
even to consider.
Some
suppliers see this as an opportunity to target affluent leisure travelers with
so-called “high-roller” packages. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is working
with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports on a program to attract wealthier
visitors to two regions, Phuket, and Samui and Phangan, for stays of at least a
month, after they’ve passed health screenings at home and upon arrival in
Thailand.
Acceleration of digitization and automation in the hospitality
industry
Technology-driven
hospitality automation will be crucial to the industry’s recovery plans.
With
social distancing rules likely to remain even after lockdown restrictions are
lifted, hotels, tour operators and transport companies will need to find ways
to minimize contact between guests and staff.
Contactless
technology from digital keys to taps with sensors will be a baseline for many
businesses. The possibilities of face recognition will also be explored at
scale. Last year, three hotels in Singapore piloted the E-Visitor
Authentication (EVA) system, which enables guests to use standalone kiosks to
scan their passports through facial recognition technology, instead of waiting
for a member of staff to do so.
Hotels
will have to follow enhanced safety and hygiene protocols. Automation could
involve self-cleaning technology - as revealed in 2019 in Copenhagen’s Hotel
Ottilia, that uses ACT CleanCoat self-cleaning technology. This is a
transparent and odorless substance that automatically breaks down microbes like
bacteria, viruses and airborne mold spores when exposed to sunlight. The
challenge will be how do we get automation and digitization at scale and at a
cost that the industry and consumers can afford.
History
is no guarantee of future success, but we know that international tourism has
survived and grown over the last 20 years, surviving challenging world events
such as the 9/11 attacks, the SARS outbreak and the 2008 financial crisis. Each
time the industry was knocked back, growth eventually resumed an upward
trajectory.
The
young will go first. Travel will involve nearby destinations. Economy travel
will recover more quickly. And outdoor and nature-related destinations will be
more popular than congested cities. Like many other sectors and industries,
travel too will largely be local and regional in the near future.
Our
confidence in the sector remains because Southeast Asia’s travel and tourism
sector has all the elements to recover fast, and we have already started to see
signs of recovery with local tourism picking up.
Even
historically, over 50% of Southeast Asian tourists were from the region and in future
this trend will only accelerate and intensify.
This
is a region where startups in travel and tech have thrived. Not all of these
will survive this crisis - that is the nature of early stage investing. But
startups have the advantage over established businesses of being small enough
and nimble enough to adapt and change.
Now
is the time to look beyond the traditional travel tech sectors and seize the
opportunities that more regional travel, changing demographics and younger travelers
will bring. This could well be the beginning of new technology, startups and
sectors that don't exist yet.
About the author...
Amit Anand is co-founder and managing partner at
Jungle Ventures.