How Omicron can rattle the tourism sector’s dream of revival

After being hit by the Pandemic for almost two years, the international travel industry was hoping for a comeback. But before it could bounce back, the sudden entry of Omicron has shattered the dreams of revival. Now the tourism sector is bracing for the Omicron wave. Although it would be too soon to assess the impact of the Omicron variant, we all have seen how Covid-19 has devastated global tourism.

The Covid-19 outbreak was a global shock, and nobody knew what could be done. Almost all countries had imposed travel restrictions, and international and domestic flights were banned. According to a UNCTAD report, global tourism and its closely linked sectors suffered an estimated loss of $2.4trillion in 2020. However, after the first quarter of 2020, several countries had waived off travel bans, and travel operations started to regain momentum. After the second wave, the international travel sector saw a much faster recovery. International airlines resumed their flights, and the hospitality sector has prepared itself to welcome the guests.

How prepared is the tourism sector?

Although many experts believe it to be a ‘short-term setback,’ and Omicron will temporarily affect travel booking, the travel industry has already learned to be watchful and operational for such contagious outbreaks. The new normal is digitally-driven and contactless, and travel agents are now operating their business online and communicating via chats, online booking, online assistance, and digital payments.

Transport operators are strictly following the safety protocols to contain the outbreak. Mandatory masking, contact-less thermal screening, sanitization, disinfection of the vehicles, decontaminating the luggage and passengers have become the new normal. Moreover, contactless communication via online seat booking, digital payment, and online assistance has been proven effective in containing the disease as well as keeping travel operational.

The global Aviation Industry has faced the biggest hit due to the pandemic. But as airlines are resuming their flights, they are placing health, safety, and sanitization at the forefront. From booking flights online to thermal screening at the airport, from issuing e-boarding passes to providing PPE kits and decontaminating the luggage and the entire aircraft between the trips, airlines are making journeys safe and secure.

The hospitality sector is not behind in maintaining safety protocols. From digitally-driven room check-in to sanitizing each room, thermal screening, and decontamination of guests and luggage, hotels across the globe are taking extreme measures for the safety of their guests.

Overall

With the rise of Omicron ahead of the holiday season, the tourism sector has already seen 20% cancellations in bookings. If the countries follow the same protocols for Omicron as they did during the Covid crisis, like banning international travel, then we might not see many revivals of the sector in the first half of 2022.