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Tourism

Putting Asia’s Affected Tourism Workers to Good Use During Coronavirus Crisis

Xinyi Liang-Pholsena

Photo Credit: Vegetable and fruit farmers in Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands had to let their harvest go to waste when the coronavirus shutdown posed disruptions in the supply chain.  Adobe / Sam D'Cruz

Skift Take

Redeploying furloughed employees for work outside of their traditional expertise may not open new revenue streams for travel businesses during the coronavirus crisis, but such initiatives can lead to new learnings for the company and staff alike. It’s a better option than having idle workers.

These days staff at Malaysia’s Hwajing Travel and Tours are getting a lot more calls from customers, but the people they are dealing with on the other end are neither enquiring about cruise vacations or deferring their travel plans. Instead, these agency employees are taking orders for fresh vegetables produce, a non-profit initiative that the Kuala Lumpur-based travel firm’s managing director Kenny Cheong launched when cruise bookings dried up as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll on the global tourism sector. When the travel boss saw that local farmers in Cameron Highlands had to dump their harvest due to disruptions in the food supply chain following Malaysia’s Covid-19 shutdown, he decided to lend a helping hand

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