Pivot or stand still in business

Zelam Chaubal, Director, Kesari Tours, believes that we must be prepared for a M!CE industry with new protocols in  place when it recovers – perhaps one where travellers will require a doctor’s fit-to-fly certificate or changed visa norms. She adds that domestic M!CE will pick up before international.

M!CE groups can only start when the world resumes business activities and countries open their borders. The first few international countries that will open up to M!CE will be the ones with very few cases and where safety precautions are strong, such as Dubai, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Azerbaijan, and a few favourite European countries like Amsterdam and Switzerland. These will also be the countries where governments and tourism boards are ready and prepared to welcome M!CE traffic.

SOPs in place

But before that can happen, we need to ensure that our SOPs are strong and we are all adhering to the new COVID-19 norms. We must be prepared for a M!CE industry with new protocols in place when it recovers – perhaps one where travellers will require a doctor’s fit-to-fly certificate or changed visa norms. Travellers may be required to carry additional medical history documents at various points of their journey.

Airports will have new restrictions and so will the airlines. COVID-19 negative test certificates may be the new requirement and we must therefore be ready to adapt to these new norms that different countries may apply. At the same time, we must also be prepared for mandatory requirements such as COVID-19 insurance and even a COVID-19 tax. Domestic M!CE should start before international. Given that physical distancing is part of the new normal, we will need to rethink our M!CE numbers. It may have to be done in smaller numbers until a vaccine is developed.

Advice to agents

We all are going through a tough patch right now and we can either pivot or hang still. Each situation is different and each one of us has to face our fears. All of us have to prepare for the new normal not only in our offices but in every  step of daily life. Develop a survival strategy, because only tough people last. Use this time wisely and do all that you have wanted to do. This is our opportunity to re-engineer ourselves. So let us make the most of it.

Zelam Chaubal, Director, Kesari Tours
(Views expressed are the author’s own. The publication may or may not subscribe to the same.)