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HT Tourism Conclave: Covid led to digital surge among travellers, says Thomas Cook MD
HT Tourism Conclave: Swifter adoption of technology and shift in priorities of domestic travellers were some of the changes that the Covid pandemic brought to the fore, Madhavan Menon, managing director, Thomas Cook (India) Limited, said.
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the rollout of technologies in the travel sector, thereby easing ways in which people access hospitality services, Madhavan Menon, managing director, Thomas Cook (India) Limited, said on Thursday.
Swifter adoption of technology and shift in priorities of domestic travellers were some of the changes that the pandemic brought to the fore, he added.
Speaking at the Hindustan Times Tourism Conclave here, Menon said, “Application of technology was an expensive proposition years ago. Until a few years ago, we decided the options that we gave to customers. Today, in the outbound business, the customer seeks details on the manner in which they want to interact with us in a medium comfortable to them. Our ways of working have changed and now, the customer gets to decide how they want to interact with us. They can make transactions remotely through video if they don’t want to visit our stores.”
Another change that the sector witnessed was a rise in road travel on the domestic front and increased focus on hygiene and comfort, Menon said. “We have witnessed a new aspect of people driving to destinations. Earlier, people drove to a destination four-five hours away but now, they are covering a much longer distance. Hygiene has become a very important element too,” he said.
The Thomas Cook (India) Limited MD said that revival of both inbound and outbound tourism was expected in the coming months as borders open up. “This season will look very different when it comes to inbound tourism. From November 15, the government will issue visas for foreigners. We need to open our borders and bilateral flights are not good enough. The inbound business in its true form will only come back in 2022. By 2023, there will be a full-blown impact,” he said.
Menon also said that Indians would eagerly opt for outbound travel but were only kept away by the limited number of destinations and the requirements of RT-PCR tests and the fear of getting infected. “The outbound travel also looks positive,” he said.
He added that while high flight rates were a deterrent, they were expected to stabilise soon. “There are not enough routes for airlines to fly. Airlines are waiting for borders to open. Airfares will start settling down from November 1 as the US opens. The fares should settle down soon,” he said.
