Skift Take
For many players in Asia’s tours and activities space, dealing with mounting coronavirus cancellations is proving to be a pain point without the aid of robust technology systems in place. This crisis will be a sharp reminder that digitalization is the way to go.
The dramatic plunge in Chinese outbound tourist traffic in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, known officially as Covid-19, is causing massive headaches for Asia’s tourism industry players.
As more countries impose travel restrictions for visitors from China, and increasingly elsewhere, many of Asia's tour operators and agents are caught in a double whammy: Not only are they not receiving any new bookings, they are now inundated with a spike in coronavirus cancellations and refund requests.
Overnight, many players in the tour operating space find themselves woefully inadequate to cope with the deluge of last-minute booking changes with the outdated or nonexistent technology systems they have.
And in a region where a vast majority of travel operators and wholesalers are just beginning to distribute their products online, this sudden wave of cancellations has created a cascading chain of technological challenges for Asia's fragmented tours and activities sector.
Bearing Cancellation Pain
“The offline travel agents are suffering the most right now as they don’t have a system in place to track sales. A lot of these offline agents buy [tickets] in bulk and lose control [post-sale] without a proper inventory system,” said Blanca Menchaca, CEO of BeMyGuest, a Singapore-based specialist in technology and distribution of travel experiences.
“We are now trying to help many of the offline travel agents, but the lack of technology adop
