The Silver Lining to Asia’s Travel Recovery Will Be Who Learns the Most From This Pandemic, Says Global Strategist


Skift Take

A crisis can seem "unprecedented" if you haven't schooled yourself on what has happened elsewhere before. Expect Asia to be the center of the travel sector's recovery as some countries leapfrog others.

History is fueled by surprise developments, while predictable ones drive forecasts. Resolving that tension is hard. But it's safe to track one key question to see how the future of travel in Asia Pacific will unfold. The key question for the travel sector is which Asian countries will learn the most and will respond with the greatest agility to this pandemic. That's the word from Parag Khanna, an author and geopolitical scientist who has written extensively — most recently "The Future is Asian: Commerce, Conflict & Culture in the 21st Century." Some Asian countries will prove resilient in the next year and leapfrog other countries out of this crisis. In other words, the coronavirus pandemic is going to spark changes to the Asian pecking order, Khanna said when he spoke at Skift Forum Asia on Thursday in conversation with Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali. India and the Phi