Tour Operators Watch Coronavirus Spread, Make Adjustments
经过大卫·科格斯威尔(David Cogswell)/
旅行社正在密切关注冠状病毒的传播,因为除了每个人的个人担忧外,爆发还会影响其业务的基本功能。而且每天都在变化。
The disruption of business is no longer limited to Asia. With cases now reported in several European countries, a flicker of concern is threatening to spark an outbreak of panic arguably more damaging than the disease itself.
冠状病毒对股票市场的影响会单独关注,因为许多旅行购买决定基于401K和股票组合的状态。
一个移动的目标
五月花之旅总裁尼什·帕特尔(Nish Patel)说:“状况每天都在变化。”“直到上周,只有中国和东南亚,但是最近关于冠状病毒在意大利蔓延的消息有更多有关的旅行者。现在,我们接到了去意大利的巡回演出。”
尽管情况发生了变化,但帕特尔的反应反映了巡回演出的一般态度。
Patel说,“我们的立场是一样的。“安全of our travelers is our number one priority. We are monitoring the information available on the CDC and WHO websites and also discussing with our ground operators. If we believe a destination is not safe to travel, we make changes accordingly.”
Mayflower全年取消了前往中国的旅行。当一些客户推迟到明年,但没有一个取消。但是现在,必须每天重新考虑冠状病毒时做出的决定。
教育消费者
Big Five Tours — which operates in Asia, Africa and Latin America — is letting clients who choose not to travel postpone until next year or choose another destination. The operator is experienced at adapting to disease outbreaks and the panics they set off.
“It is important to note that this is not the first or the last time this will happen,” said Ashish Sanghrajka, president of Big Five Tours. “We experienced this to a certain degree when Ebola paralyzed Africa.
“The key to this is educating travelers versus persuading them. We spent that time educating travelers on how tourism is the frontline resistance to poaching. Tourism serves several frontlines for resistance in Asia, from poaching to human trafficking and beyond. We, as an industry, cannot lose sight of that.”
Part of the education of clients, Sanghrajka said, is to show them the power of their travel purchases in places where they travel.
“We should be painting a picture of what China would look like without tourism,” said Sanghrajka. “We should be talking about how many jobs are related to tourism in any one country, and we should be painting a picture for travelers that helps them embrace the power they hold, instead of convincing them to do something they may not really want to do.”
The role of travel advisors
旅行顾问凭借其特殊的技能和知识基础,在国际上管理危机方面发挥了重要作用。
Goway Travel市场营销副总裁Adam Hodge表示:“旅行社在9/11之后的“互联网”和SARS幸存下来,并在真正重要的情况下向其尊贵的客户提供服务,支持和信息。这没有改变。”
Hodge said Goway advises travelers to consult travel advisors, “who will be your best resource for knowledge and help at any point prior and during travel, as well as for cancellations.”
亚历山大与罗伯茨(Alexander&Roberts)总裁罗伯特·德鲁姆(Robert Drumm)在中国进行了许多巡回演出,他说:“旅行顾问在指导旅行者与其他目的地的旅行者方面非常有帮助。beplay银行卡56%的人已重新安置在其他旅行中,推迟,旅行抵免和现金退款,弥补了余额,大约相等。”
As the virus spreads internationally, for Alexander + Roberts, the fear of the coronavirus has now spread to Japan as it heads into Cherry Blossom Time.
“We have pretty experienced travelers who go with us and they are not subject to panicky decisions,” said Drumm. “At least, that’s my take on what ‘hasn’t happened’ to date. Like everyone else, however, we’re watching the news.”
对坏消息的淡化敏感
总的来说,消费者可能会过量使用坏消息,尽管有关于冠状病毒的可怕新闻报道,但Goway Travel的首席运营官John Feenaghty并没有看到旅行者反应过度。
Feenaghty说:“不可避免地有一些取消,尤其是在前往中国的旅行中。但是,这些旅行者中有许多只是重新预订其他目的地的旅行。beplay银行卡我认为,尽管新闻中散布着所有的恐惧,但旅行者对这次爆发的反应非常合理。”
Goway’s customers who cancel to China are just booking to another destination. As a result, the company has seen spikes in bookings to non-affected destinations, such as South America and Africa. In spite of the fact that cases of the coronavirus have cropped up in several countries in Europe, Goway is still seeing strong interest in the region. Asian countries that are not affected by the virus are also still popular for the company.
“岛度假总是受一定的travelers and we’re also happy to see travelers, once again, book more vacations to Australia. Plans have changed, but people are still committing to seeing the world with Goway.”
Shifting travel map
尽管冠状病毒问题仍然是特定于目的地的,但总的来说,这使旅行陷入困境。受影响目的地的地图正在迅速转移。beplay银行卡
For Pleasant Holidays, the impact so far has been minimal in most of its destinations. But the company is experiencing an effect in Southeast Asia.
宜人假期总裁兼首席执行官杰克·E·理查兹(Jack E.beplay客服可预见的未来。
“Since there are no reported cases of coronavirus in our top destinations of Hawaii, Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Tahiti, Panama or Fiji, bookings to these destinations remain strong. Bookings closer to home in Florida, Las Vegas, Orlando and Canada are strong. We do see a trend of travelers staying closer to home for travel April-August. The impact for Europe is beginning to increase as new cases are reported across the top destinations.”
Maintaining a broad perspective
Ronen Paldi, president of Ya’lla Tours, sent an email from Egypt: “I’m currently in Cairo and there are zero signs of the coronavirus.
“我们的目的地都没有受到影beplay银行卡响,我们的预订都没有受到影响。我们每天都有预订,人们正在遵循我们的建议:以一种很好的视角来看它。怎么会这样?每年,美国都有成千上万的人死于流感,因此,我们将因此停止旅行吗?
“是的,冠状病毒引起了很多恐慌。可悲的是,有些人死了。但是我们所有人都必须深吸一口气,并以良好的视角看待它。”