When COVID-19 Came Calling - Part 1, Survival

It’s almost a month into lockdown post Covid-19 in India.

 In February, I remember trying to put together a ski holiday in Gulmarg for some friends and clients, while still trying to decipher the true impact of the virus, if any, in India. We knew it was spreading globally and also that we would see it in India soon enough. We got on to a con call with our clients (some old repeats) and decided that the trip would go ahead as planned - with precautions in place.

We knew that Kashmir was clear until then, but still enquired and confirmed from the local authorities if any cases had been reported.  I must confess, I also did something that I now see as racist. I checked if there were any Chinese or Italian Tourists booked in the hotel.

Our drivers were instructed to wear masks and NOT SHAKE HANDS. Every family got a separate car, even though pretty much everyone was landing in Srinagar at the same time.

We stocked up on hand sanitisers, stopped our daily dose of cashews and walnuts because that would have meant using bare hands to eat them. Sadly, we were forced to use mineral water bottles because we were unable to access the large 20 litre cans that clients used to refill their bottles with. This hurt more than anything else because we have a reputation of running plastic free trips.

We hounded the hotel staff till they complied with every hygiene request we raised. The ski instructors and porters maintained an acceptable distance from the group always. 

Gulmarg saw the best dump of snow in a decade and everyone had a fantastic ski trip. We got back to our homes on the 12th of March, and a little more than a week later we were in lockdown. 

As the CEO of a reputed adventure travel company with more than three decades in the business, I had a bucket load of feelings and thoughts that swarmed through my head

• We were just getting into our peak season and were looking forward to re-building our cash flows and now …??
• We owed money in the market. Vendors who trust us and have worked with us for decades. They too would feel the cash crunch and need money…
• I had 40 people who worked with me and trusted me to pay salaries and wages on time…Even though very small, I did have an EMI to pay.

WHAT WAS I TO DO?????

I turned to other experts in the industry. It was time to see what is happening in the business. As the Vice Chairman of FAITH (India’s largest industry body for tourism) and the Past President of ATOAI, I had access to news from a cross section of the tourism industry from aviation, hotels, restaurants, inbound, outbound, domestic and of course adventure travel.

 Here is what I found out.

• IT’S A BLOOD BATH.
• Mostly, everyone for himself.
• Mantra is to survive. Somehow survive the virus and the financial fallout.
• Be ready to start lean once this all blows over.

I spoke with some really close friends in the industry and we took solace in each other’s stories of misery.

I also had the opportunity to get on a video conference with some global colleagues from the adventure travel community.  The first such global call had people from USA, UK, Belgium, Spain, Columbia, Costa Rica, Brazil and Bolivia. And here’s what I found out:

EVERYONE IS IN THE SAME BOAT, EVERYONE IS DOWN-SIZING, EVERYONE IS TRYING TO STAY AFLOAT. AND EVERYONE IS RE-INVENTING, RE- STRUCTURING & RE-ORGANISING.

Marketing strategies, web sites, and social media pages are being recreated and the focus on content creation has increased. Everyone is preparing for the “new normal”. 

What that “NEW NORMAL” is, is anyone’s guess.

I too do what must be done:

• I send most of my field staff home, some who are stuck and can’t leave because of the lockdown get accommodation and food.
• Pay full salaries for March.
• Cut down costs in April and maintain a skeleton staff at salaries 50-60% lower.
• Go into every line item and kill costs.
• Somehow try and stay relevant until this thing blows away or gives us a respite.

The group of close friends continue to “meet” every night - it’s like a session with a psychologist where you can share each other’s pain and try a figure out this new world-together.

All of this while we try and plead, beg and let our Government know that

WE NEED HELP !!

• Tourism is the largest impacted industry in India.
• It contributes almost 10% to India’s GDP but has always been treated like a step-child.
• Five crore jobs are at stake.
• Thousands of small to medium tourism enterprises are on the verge of a shut down
• Revenues to the tune of 5 lakh crore are up in the air.
• The industry can’t pay salaries, EMIs or even monthly utility costs

UK, US, Germany, Singapore and some other countries have already announced major bail out packages for tourism. As we flounder and flap about in deep, fast flowing waters, I can just hope that the Indian Government is going to throw a rescue bag or a life jacket in our direction.

To be continued: Part 2, Survival