Thus far of us were questioning what tourism can do for the society, for the economy, and the environment, but now, it is the right time to ask what we can do for tourism as a whole.
1. Introduction
Our glob has witnessed several deadly pandemics ranging from the Black Death to the Spanish flu, from the Smallpox to SARS and MERS, and now the Coronavirus (COVID-19). In addition to causing distressing fatalities worldwide, the domino effects of such global pandemics are multifaceted including the disruption of business operations and people’s mobility eventually triggering a global recession. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic poses an imminent threat to our universe in numerous aspects. When writing this short opinion piece, there are 3,582,469 confirmed cases and 251,510 total deaths globally.
In the wake of the deadly and fast-spreading COVID-19, most governments around the world took drastic measures and temporarily closed their borders putting globalization and regional integration endeavours that have been espoused for decades at risk. We have witnessed that the most advanced countries and their health system being seriously tested. Among the various sectors that are paralyzed as a result of drastic measures taken in response to the pandemic, the hospitality and tourism sector takes the frontline. Based on the current situation, the UNWTO speculated that in 2020 international tourist arrivals might decline by 20% – 30% compared with 2019. In its history, the global tourism has never seen such a colossal decline from other crises. To add mumps on a goiter, the hospitality and tourism sector accelerates the spread of the virus and the spread of the virus, in turn, accelerates the demise of the sector.
Indeed, as we speak, millions of people across the planet are laid off at the mercy of their respective governments. Workers in the informal sector who account for 61% of the global workforce or 2 billion people will need income support just to survive and feed their families if their jobs disappear (The Guardian, 2020). ILO’s (2020) latest report reconfirms this by stating that among the most vulnerable in the labor market, almost 1.6 billion informal economy workers are significantly impacted by lockdown measures and/or working in the hardest-hit sectors. In the first month of the crisis, the informal sector has witnessed a drop of 60% in the income of informal workers
globally which translates into a drop of 81% in Africa and the Americas, 21.6% in Asia and the Pacific, and 70% in Europe and Central Asia (ILO, 2020). Therefore, in any measurement, the consequences of this global pandemic are far-reaching.
In light of this unfolding crisis, it is now the right time to put hands together and first learn, understand, then adapt and cope with the new normal and eventually take any windows of opportunities amid this pandemic as the saying goes in every crisis there is an opportunity. Given the fact that Africa, in general, is not the epicenter of the outbreak unlike Ebola, I anticipate that recovery would not be a serious problem image-wise. Ethiopia continued to be known through Dr. Tewodros Adhanom, The UN WHO Director-General as a result of COVID-19 as I encounter several people associating him with the country as he is all over the major global and regional mainstream and digital media. Moreover, the recent Nobel Peace Prize of PM Abiy Ahmed is another great opportunity to be exploited in the imaging of Ethiopia. That being said, while fully appreciating the efforts that have been exerted both at the national and regional level in the country, through the establishment of taskforces and the preparation and discussion of a draft recovery strategy plan for the hospitality and tourism sector, it also could be very essential to see somehow out of the box and take advantage of and use this opportunity
to restructure and reengineer and reassess our hospitality and tourism sector. After all, resilience is all about the strength, diversity and adaptability of our tourism value chain. It is more of the supply side than the demand side. Therefore, to build our resilience and to come back in strong and good shape, a proper utilization of this time is paramount. We cannot afford to waste the time by just complaining about the pandemic and wailing all the way long.
2. Discussion
The looking should be inward and the action should be now
One thing should be very clear here. We only come back stronger in the aftermath if and only if we work now, in this time, during the actual crisis. We have a crisis unfolding quite rapidly, if we try to solve it, try to contain it from resulting further damage, if we stand together and tackle it collaboratively, we can come back stronger later. The pandemic is universal; it is indiscriminate; so too the solution must be. We are facing a common and unique challenge and therefore, our response must also be innovative, common, and united as well.
In my view, now is the time to look more inward than outward. This crisis might give us time to critically evaluate our supply chain, our offers, our resources, our service quality, our corporate and business values, and our resilience at large. It might give us a unique opportunity to renovate, reconstruct, repair, clean, replenish, and restore our devastated and polluted resources by channelling the hospitality and tourism resources and workforce in this direction. The document could strongly underline that it is NOW a much better time to reexamine our product offers and engage with our employees and train them. It is also a time to reassess the organizational structure and fragility of our hospitality and tourism governing entities for more swift and effective responses for other similar crises in the future.
Furthermore, while is wise to foresee the future, but in such a unique crisis that makes situations/circumstance very fluid and volatile, what is more, important is to look into what we can do now, in this real-time. That is instrumental in part because we can have a better understanding and control of the time at hand now, and in part what we do now significantly determines ours tomorrow. Our efforts not only to save the hospitality and tourism sector but also the measures we take to put the pandemic under control matter a lot and provide an excellent regional and even international leverage especially to boost visitors’ confidence and to reimage the country later in the aftermath of the crisis. If smart enough in this regard, Ethiopia should work vigorously to better handle the pandemic through the constant and free flow of accurate and up-to-date information as well as play a key regional coordination role and benefit out of the
challenge. Such an initiative is equally critical and the experience here in South Korea where I live and work speaks for itself since the country is unequivocally praised on the international media for successfully putting the pandemic under control. Otherwise wasting too much time and resource more on the future in such an extremely unpredictable and murky situation is less worthy. It is also pivotal to note that theoretically marketing is all about creating awareness, informing, and reminding about a particular destination. In this respect, every Ethiopian and people with Ethiopian roots need to market the country in a door to door fashion using all the available means (that I have been doing it for long) which is indeed much more effective in various parameters.
3. Conclusion
In conclusion, it is ostensible that we have been doing countless research, been making several debates and been asking numerous questions of what tourism can do for the society, for the economy, and the environment. Yet, now, as COVID-19 turns things upside-down, it comes the right time to ask rather what we can do for tourism as a whole. How can we save this sector that has been misunderstood, and misrepresented continuously in Ethiopia? It should be underlined that in such a crisis, the more we stand together, the more we help each other and the more we remain prepared and agile, the better we can handle the situation and be resilient to get through the ordeals and see a light at the end of the tunnel.
The author, Amare Nega Wondirad, BA, MSc, Ph.D., CHE. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Sol International Hospitality Management (SIHOM), Sol International School, Woosong University. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D. Degree) in Hotel and Tourism Management from The School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and his MSc in the consortium Universities of Southern Denmark (Denmark), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and University of Girona (Catalonia, Spain). He has been also working as a Lecturer at the University of Gondar and as an Assistant Professor at Hawassa University, School of Hotel and Tourism Management. His research interests center into tourism stakeholder management, ecotourism, sustainable tourism, community-based tourism, tourism cluster destination development and management, and tourist satisfaction.
The Ethiopian Herald May 7/2020
Amare Nega Wondirad (PhD.) Contributer
