California-based Ronald S. Mracký – who, amongst other things, provides media and marketing insights to airlines, cruise lines, hotel groups and destinations – writes that there are lessons to be learned by some US market players when planning a post-COVID-19 recovery.
In planning the industry’s re-entry we need to end all the speculations, since that is beyond our individual control. However, we need to be prepared and ready for when the world opens up once again.
Allow me to share what we are learning from those who are actively working on getting businesses, airports, amusement parks, restaurants, shopping malls and companies back to business in California, a leading American tourist destination.
Analysis in their sphere is important – just as after 9/11 they focused on security – screenings, surveillance, access control, entry procedures, and governments opening ministries and covenants with new regulations.
Similarly, the coronavirus will bring forth new perspectives and modus operandi. Obviously, all the areas of concern, consumer, industry and government, revolve around health, people groupings, crowd control and social distancing. Screenings and surveillance will include personal temperature measures, crowd movement, and environment/surroundings surveillance, including what we touch and how we relate to each other.
What should we do to be ready for the re-entry?
The principal focus for the tourism and travel industry will be the counterbalance to the psychological residue that corona (and I don’t mean that great Mexican beer) will impose on travellers’ destination decisions – their concerns and calculations of the health safety of where, what and when of their post-corona travel. We need to realise and accept that, just as ‘security/surveillance’ and the 3oz bottles brought on by 9/11, the corona residue will be consumed with antiviral and people contact issues.
The key consumer and governmental recovery plans are focused on bringing forth new antiviral health and people environments and, as an industry, we need to consider positioning and actions that reflect a higher awareness of these issues and provide the market with more tangible positioning for their involvement (travel) than just hand sanitisers and face masks.
Once the travel restrictions are lifted, key consumer focus will be personal health safety – hygiene, crowd sizes and handling/control of their what, where and when to make their travel decisions. In other words, tangible and actual changes in our offerings to resolve their, the travellers’, concerns.
Research findings we need to incorporate
An important post-corona insight came from our research. We need to communicate and incorporate the use of antimicrobial materials and surfaces as a tangible positioning of our effort to control the corona after-effect.
Use of materials that inherently, either through chemicals that are added to them or just by the nature of the natural materials in them, kill microbes and viruses and germs on contact. Copper, for example, kills viruses on contact, and if a restaurant, hotel or lodge would mount a ‘come-back’ promotion, their unique selling proposition (USP) could be that their kitchen uses copper pots to cook viral-free. The same would be when a hotel redecorated using antimicrobial paint on its walls and replaced carpeting with antimicrobial version.
We found that there are chemically treated fabrics, floor and wall finishes that are required in hospitals and health care facilities. These should be considered for the hospitality industry. Besides providing a tangible health upgrade to the property, this would offer marketing positioning points – the post-corona USP – and project to the consumer a competitive and higher-caring level of service and protection.
Hotels and lodges should market and institute their enhanced cleaning and sanitation measures plus, for a lighter touch, include local scented-colognes as part of their antivirus toiletries as well as, what now will be a constant, hand sanitisers.
And industry associations, before the government steps in, should consider health/sanitation certification of their member properties and guest services, and that includes the safari 4x4s, a highly promotional item, similar to restaurants’ ‘General Hygiene Requirements’ and promote their ‘A’ classification in their ads.
Add-on suggestions
An additional consideration should be providing (and promoting) free availability of WiFi across the entire property. Post-corona travellers will be more attached to their laptops and iPhones, needing to be in personal touch with their home.
Switching to promotional areas, since face masks will be the new fashion chic, consider having them made with your logo. Besides, they will make great and memorable guest souvenirs!
Whether it is tomorrow, six months or more from now, at some point governments will begin to ease COVID-19-related restrictions and people will be free to resume their travel. And as Sir Winston Churchill said: ‘This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning.’ I think that is where we are at right now.
