Faced with the constant growth of tourism, the principles of demarketing are increasingly used by destinations to limit the impact on the local population. The tourism sector is generating more and more visitors, and UNWTO estimates that by 2030, 4 million tourists will be added to the 1.4 billion people already travelling.
For many destinations, managing this boom is a significant challenge. Many of them find themselves, victims of their success, when their infrastructure was not designed to support such an increase. Demarketing offers some possible solutions in response to these challenges.
Far from being new, this concept, proposed in 1971 by Philip Kotler and Sidney Levy, is based on the idea that surpluses can be as problematic as shortages. The authors, economists, and marketers respectively, define demarketing as the aspect of marketing that aims to discourage customers (or a particular segment) on a temporary or permanent basis.
This type of strategy is already widely used in specific sectors, particularly in public health. Think of advertisements on cigarette packs or even those inviting the population to consume alcohol and game sensibly. Therefore, the idea is to limit the increase in demand rather than encourage it since growth would have negative repercussions on society.
In the current tourism context, more and more managers must reflect on this notion. Should we at all costs attract as many visitors as possible in the name of economic development?
The graph shows the total number of tourists in millions at different places for the year 2021-2022
Strategies You Can Apply to Manage the Growing Influx of Tourists
How do develop a demarketing approach? The strategies to be adopted are based on the same principles as traditional marketing: the 4Ps (promotion, place, product, price). With the help of a few examples, let’s see how these strategies fit together in the context of tourism marketing.
Promotion
When a tourist area can no longer manage the flow of visitors it attracts, and the attractions and infrastructure are oversaturated, one possible solution is to stop all forms of promotion.
The Netherlands Destination Management Organization (DMO) recently did this by announcing that it would focus its energy on managing the destination rather than promoting it.
Only little-known regions will be the subject of an international campaign. After having announced the inter-seasons, this measure comes as a last resort, relocated the famous letters “I amsterdam”, and made tourists aware of inappropriate behaviour.
IAmsterdam Sign Removed
Place
The notion of place often refers to the location of a service or business. The geolocation of attractions now makes the best-kept treasures accessible to everyone. However, this practice has consequences for the environment since specific sites, which would otherwise have remained unknown, quickly become very frequent.
In response to this phenomenon, the OGD of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, launched a campaign urging visitors to geotag their photos responsibly, using generic coordinates of a site rather than the exact location of the image.
Message by Jackson Hole to Tourists
Similarly, the World Heritage Site of Puerto Princesa, in the Philippines, wanted to limit the number of visitors to specific fragile sites by simply removing them from the tourist cards it produces.
Product
The characteristics of the product directly influence the demand for it. Thus, in a marketing strategy, the product will be intentionally made less attractive. In the case of a destination, we can think of managing tourist flows, such as the imposition of quotas or the introduction of limited time slots.
Bruce Peninsula National Park in Ontario has already implemented this type of measure. Visitors should reserve a four-hour time slot to experience the busiest area of the park.
Price
Raising access tariffs is the fourth strategy discussed in this article. This is a practice that the City of Venice is exploring. Postponed several times, one of its projects aims to introduce a fixed tax to all visitors who do not stay at least one night in the city or do not have the Venezia Unica card.
It should be noted that this type of initiative can be more controversial, particularly in a destination context, particularly natural or heritage sites, since it creates an issue of equity and favours people who can pay.
Demarketing can therefore help manage the growing influx of tourists. However, before arriving there, there is nothing like good territorial planning upstream. Apart from the basic steps, there are various strategies available to adopt for demarketing.
Demarketing is the exact opposite of marketing. In marketing, advertisements are used to increase the sale of a product. Whereas in demarketing, advertisements are responsible for the reduction in the sale of a particular product. Especially it is applied for the things that are facing a shortage.
The above article explains the use of demarketing strategies to get some help in the influx of tourists. It is mainly done to protect nature and prevent any harm to localities.
FAQs
The concept of demarketing was introduced by?
The concept was introduced by Phillip Kotler and Sidney Levy in 1971.
What is meant by demarketing?
In simple terms, demarketing means trying out different ways to reduce the use of a particular product that is in demand but with minimum supply.
What are the types of demarketing strategies?
There are multiple types of demarketing strategies. Some of them are Bait and switch marketing, Price discriminating demarketing, Stock outage demarketing, Differentiation marketing, Crowding cost demarketing, etc.
What are the four Ps of demarketing strategy?
The 4Ps of the demarketing strategy are the same as that of the marketing strategy. Place, Promotion, Product, and Price are the 4Ps included in the basic principle of the demarketing Process.
Economics has always been an important thing for a country. You may not like the subject in your school but it is something that is super real in nature. It is basically the allocation of resources to achieve the most optimum efficiency. As the number of people grows in a country, so does the responsibility and the load to be more active and unbiased in every sphere of allocation of resources. Good allocation of resources is important because resources are finite.
If not managed well, the whole economy can just crash, however big or small the economy is. This is what we are reminded of every now and then. This unusual year brought up the news of a country getting economically unstable. The country is Sri Lanka and it is in a really serious economic condition. The people of Sri Lanka are facing extreme situations associated with their economy. This article focuses right on the same topic.
Read this article to know about what is happening in Sri Lanka and what the world is saying about it, how the country plans to get out of this tight phase and much more. Here we go,
A Little Brief About the Sri Lanka Economic Crisis
Recently, the news broke out about Sri Lanka from which we came to know that the country to the south of India is facing a financial crisis and there are fears of bankruptcy. News resources reported that Sri Lanka is in a super tight place right now and it might have extreme economical conditions in the near future.
The Sri Lankan foreign reserves have hit a record low where the commercial banks are failing to secure “dollars to finance imports of food, fuel and medicines”, as says Deccan Herald. All of these started with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated the country’s tourism sector, a pivotal industry of the Sri Lankan revenue, and also reduced the foreign workers’ remittances.
To save the country, the Sri Lankan government announced a broad import ban in March 2020. However, this backfired in the form of shooting the food prices up by 25%, as per the reports of February 2022, and has contributed to an overall inflation of 17.5%. Furthermore, the country is also facing 5-hour electricity blackouts each day because the thermal generators have run out of fuel. According to the reports, the country is still battling its $51 billion sovereign debt.
It has been heard that he Sri Lankan government had received a $1.2 billion economic relief package from India for a cure. This economic relief package, as announced by the government on January 4, 2022, amidst the ongoing forex crises of the country, ensures that the Sri Lankan government is optimistic about their future. They want to communicate that the country will not default on its international debt.
The Current Situation in Sri Lanka Due to the Crisis
The GDP of Sri Lanka over the years
Sri Lanka’s external reserves were dropped severely in November of 2021. The fall marked the external reserves to $1.6 billion. This fall triggered alarm in most of the domains and quarters of the country. Concerned people warned about this in the government. Economists and Think tank’s warned that this fall in foreign reserves will mean a sovereign default in the future.
American credit rating organisation ‘Fitch’, after the event in Sri Lanka downgraded the nation’s rating to CC. A CC rating is the lowest rating just before the defaulter tag. It is to be noted that Sri Lanka had a piling pile of feigning debt over the last few years. However, the island has never defaulted on any of the foreign debts until now.
Fitch Ratings of Sri Lanka
This downtrend in the year 2020 is seen as the record breaker for Sri Lanka. The current situation is seen as a super meltdown and has impacted the whole island. Living costs are rising impeccably, food shortages are forecasted up this year and as per the reports, Sri Lanka will likely default on the debt that it has accumulated.
Having said about the economic crisis and the depleting foreign reserves, there are many issues that Sri Lanka is facing right now. Inflation is seen at an all-time high in the country and the basic living conditions are getting costlier. Food prices are skyrocketing and its treasuries are shrinking.
The economic crisis that the country is facing right now is inhumane and the hole is too deep to get out from. The country appears to be staring at a human crisis that will hurt not only the growth rate in the pandemic era but the basic sustainability index of the country.
According to World Bank estimates, 5 lakh people in Sri Lanka have fallen below the poverty line since the pandemic struck, which it described as a “huge setback equivalent to five years’ worth of progress”.
The World Bank has estimated that about 5 lakh people have fallen below the poverty line and this trend started during the Covid 19 pandemic. This setback was so deepening that it took away Sri Lanka’s five years worth of growth with itself. This is a huge shock for the economy of Sri Lanka and the people who make up the economy.
In further reports, it is said that the country’s economy has contracted by 1.5%, just by the end of the third quarter of 2021. With the new year 2022, it is not going to be easy for Sri Lanka to sustain itself as there are real concerns about the country going bankrupt.
The government, however, said Tuesday the country will not default on its international debt as it announced a USD 1.2 billion economic relief package.
Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka would duly pay the international sovereign bond of USD 500 million due in a fortnight, a PTI report said.
Sri Lanka, which is an Island to the south of India, is a great tourist spot. It is estimated that tourism revenue makes up about 10% of the island’s GDP (Gross domestic product). This was the usual rate in the island country.
With the onset of the Covid19 pandemic, this rate was badly hit and the tourism sector came to a sudden halt. This had really a cascading effect on the earnings of the nation. However, every other major tourist destination faced this issue but the effect was real. Magnified on Sri Lanka as the tourism there makes up a good chunk of the GDP.
While the halting of tourists was a good attack on the economy, there were some other reasons as well. The other ascertained reasons for the fall would include, Heavy Expenditures. The president of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa did some hefty expenditures during the year.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa – President of Sri Lanka
His government tried to cut taxes from people that impacted government revenues. More and more spending led to less and depleting foreign reserves and thus the reserves hit a rock bottom. The country is very high on loans and grants and has China as a major debt partner. The Guardian recently reported that Sri Lanka has massive debt repayments to China alone.
Sri Lankan rupee (Currency of the island) crashed too. This is basically termed as ‘Inflation’. Inflation reached a record high in Sri Lanka, and is rising continually, leading to a spike in food prices, which was the reason for worry for the common citizens of the country. Reacting to the rise in inflation, President Rajapaksa announced an economic emergency in August 2021, just a couple of months before the foreign reserves crash. This emergency was implemented to control the situation and contain it. The effect was to lessen the hoarding of items by people in their homes, which could lead to more severe shortages.
Four months went by and as the inflation rose more, basic goods became unaffordable for the general public. Not just that, it has been reported that even well off or socially rich people are having trouble affording basic needs and wants. These many months, the citizens of Sri Lanka faced a tough time to make both ends meet.
The government had appointed a former army general as commissioner of essential services, giving him the power to seize food stocks hoarded by traders and retailers, and ensure essential items were sold at prices set by the government, but little was done on the ground to lift people out of their misery, the Guardian report said.
What Sri Lanka is facing right now is inhuman and horrendous. The economic conditions there have seen very tight phases but this phase is the most horrific. Adding to that, this is when the whole world is facing a global pandemic which could lead to any ruins. This has broadened the possibilities of Sri Lanka going bankrupt. After witnessing a drop of 70% in foreign exchange reserves during the past 2 years, the government of Lanka and the people of the island country, are experiencing a currency devaluation and are looking forward for help from the global lenders. According to the latest news dated March 28, 2022, Sri Lanka, which is a country for 22 million people, is struggling to pay for essential imports Let us see what the numbers and opinions about the country say.
This is not a certain statement but the probability of this country going bankrupt has never been this high. It has been reported that the country is super deep in debts and owes tremendous amounts to other counters. Here we are presenting a few stats that prove the misery of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka owes an amount that is more than $5 billion to China. This is probably the biggest amount of debt that the country has ever taken. The country is paying the China debt in instalments.
Not only that, but Sri Lanka is also a debtor to Beijing for $1 billion, which it took to overcome the previous acute crisis. Along with the major countries and regions that Sri Lanka owes money to, it is reported that there are many private and government entities that it owes money to. This situation of enormous debts and depreciating foreign reserves can be a ‘Checkmate’ situation for the republic of the nation.
“We have high debt from three countries — China, Japan and India. The total outstanding for this year would be USD 6.9 billion,” FM Rajapaksa, the younger brother of President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, was quoted as saying in the PTI report.
The finance minister of Sri Lanka openly announced the amount they owe to countries. He said that Sri Lanka owes a sum total of about $7 billion to countries like China, Japan and even its neighbour, India.
Sri Lanka’s huge foreign debt burden is one of the main reasons for its economic crisis. As of November, foreign currency reserves available with the country were just $1.58 billion, down from $7.5 billion when Rajapaksa became the president in 2019, the report said.
National debt of Sri Lanka
Amid the falling environment, the opposition party in Sri Lanka also took a dig. An opposition member of parliament, Harsha de Silva (who is also an economist) told parliament that foreign reserves would be in the negative if the rate of decline continues. Moreover, the Sri Lankan newspaper ‘Daily mirror’ quoted “The nation will go totally bankrupt”.
Opposition MP Harsha de Silva, who is also an economist, told Parliament in December that the country’s foreign currency reserves would be minus $437m by January, and the total foreign debt services would be $4.8 billion between February and October 2022. “The nation will be totally bankrupt,” Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror quoted him as saying.
De Silva said he was not trying to scare anyone but it was a reality that “all imports will come to a halt, the entire IT system will be shut down including the google map as we will not be able to pay for it”.
The government has, however, always made an optimistic approach and has insisted that it can meet the obligations.
Minister Ramesh Pathirana has said they would try to settle past oil debts with Iran by paying them with tea. Sri Lanka plans to send $5m worth of tea every month to Iran to save “much needed currency”, The Guardian reported.
Ministers are worried about what the future may look like and all they want is to minimise the damage.
Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal has also said that Sri Lanka would be able to pay off its debts “seamlessly”.
Former central bank deputy governor WA Wijewardena, however, told The Guardian that there were high chances that the country would default on repayments, and that would have catastrophic economic consequences.
“When the economic crisis deepens beyond redemption, it is inevitable that the country will have a financial crisis too. Both will reduce food security by lowering production and failing to import due to foreign exchange scarcities. At that point, it will be a humanitarian crisis,” he warned.
The chances of Sri Lanka defaulting on loans and debts have never been high. However, when we dug up information about the finance department in the government and what the finance minister has to say about this, we found that they have a plan.
The plan is a new and strong relief package that will try to rebalance the economic imbalance. The debt can be looked at as a secondary objective but for now, the thing that they would like to focus on is the foundation of the economy. The employees, pensioners and differently-abled soldiers are the first-hand people who will get the benefits.
The finance minister, meanwhile, said Tuesday they have a plan in place. He said the new $1.2 billion (229 billion Sri Lankan rupees) economic relief package includes payment of a special monthly allowance of Rs 5,000 to 1.5 million government employees, pensioners and differently-abled soldiers from January 2022.
This is by far the response of the Sri Lankan government to the crisis that the nation is facing. Let us now look at some of the major factors on why and how the economy at Sri Lanka sunk this much, the first one is the tourism setback.
Reasons Behind the Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka
Tourism in Sri Lanka and turmoil
The impact of the pandemic was huge on Sri Lanka. Covid 19 has stopped any sort of travel and tourism in the country for a long time now. According to the reports of the world travel and tourism council, nearly 2 lakh people have lost jobs in the travel industry since the pandemic began and globalised.
The loss of foreign revenue is huge too. According to the Hindu report last year, forex reserves have dropped from $7.5 billion to $2.8 billion, which is a steep decline and is obviously not healthy at all. The loss of foreign revenue from the sector has been substantial.
Adding to the above-mentioned deficits, the Sri Lankan rupee is depreciating too. This is known as inflation and it is very high in Sri Lanka right now. Basic livelihood items such as food items’ prices have risen manifold and people have to face difficulties to meet both ends. The nation, for now, has to depend heavily on imports.
Food Shortage in Sri Lanka
Photos of Lines and queues of people can be seen all over the news from Sri Lanka. These are the lines of people who are in a queue to buy home essentials, like food items. Prices of such basic items have risen enormously and are out of reach for many. Prices of bread, rice, wheat, sugar etc., have all risen several times.
People standing in Queue in Sri Lanka
It has never been hard for poor and middle-class people to buy items like these. The daily wage earners especially are affected the most.
Quoting a man who works as a chauffeur in Colombo, The Guardian report said he has now taken up a second job and his family now eats two meals every day, and not three. He said his village grocer now makes ten 100g packets out of a 1kg milk powder packet because no one can afford to buy the full packet.
The pandemic has just more severely affected those in the nation. The government’s efforts to make Sri Lanka ‘100% organic’ is at a loss. Last year, The Hindu reported that the country is planning to cut the use of chemical fertilisers to almost zero. To which farmers opposed and replied that this will affect food production. Pandemic made the food situation of Sri Lanka more severe.
“The government has no money for fertiliser subsidies. Many of us farmers are reluctant to invest money because we don’t know if we will make any profit,” A farmer was quoted as saying.
At the time of crisis, everyone hopes high from the government and the people of Sri Lanka are hoping the same from the government there. Speaking at the parliament in December 2020, MP, Harsha de Silva said that the only solution to the crisis is to seek assistance from the IMF(International Monetary Fund). He said homegrown solutions would not help, and only the IMF can revive the country’s economy.
The president’s office did not have an official notice or announcement for the citizens and the central bank is appealing for the foreign currency. The government of Sri Lanka is hustling to make things better for the people but it is just too hard. They are trying to stabilise the situation and try to help poor and sick people first and apply that others have to sacrifice a little.
The central bank had earlier last year prohibited traders from trading more than 200 Sri Lankan rupees for a single US dollar, they also have stopped traders from entering into forwarding currency contracts. The government has since been taking temporary relief measures to ease the situation.
Early December, Finance Minister from Sri Lanka Basil Rajapaksa visited neighbour India and commenced talks with his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman and India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to which they were thinking to take forward.
Basil Rajapaksa with Nirmala Sitharaman
The talks included a total of $1.9 billion of assistance for the country and besides that, a $500 million credit line for fuel and $400 million swap was discussed too. Similar talks were also held with China and Bangladesh.
Of all the reliefs and grants, Rajapaksa, (The President) assured that the relief package would not contribute to further inflation and that there won’t be any new taxes.
India’s Relations with Sri Lanka and the Assistance
India has always been a healthy and supportive friend to its neighbours. One of the neighbours of the Indian subcontinent is Sri Lanka. Speaking of help and assistance from India, the news is flooded with nice gestures from the Indian government for the Sri Lankan government. Let us have a look:
India assured Sri Lanka of its support to ally over these “difficult times” even as it welcomed the Trincomalee tank farms project saying it will augment bilateral energy security.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, when asked at a media briefing on the possibility of India extending the credit line to help Sri Lanka overcome its economic crisis, said it has always stood by the people of that country.
It is a great hope to notice how countries are helping each other in such times. India has agreed to mostly increase the credit line and time for repayments for Sri Lanka. Decisions like these will help foster friendly relationships with neighbouring countries.
After a telephonic conversation with his Sri Lankan counterpart, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India will support Sri Lanka in “these difficult times”. “Greeted FM G.L. Peiris of Sri Lanka in the New Year. A reliable friend, India will support Sri Lanka in these difficult times. Agreed to remain in close touch,” Jaishankar tweeted.
“We have seen reports that the Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved the development of the Trincomalee tank farms. Energy security is an important area of our bilateral cooperation with Sri Lanka,” he said supporting relations with the neighbour.
The Sri Lankan government replied that after analysing the three existing agreements with the Indian government about the strategic Trincomalee oil tank complex, usually known as the Trinco oil tank farm, the two countries have reached an agreement to implement a joint development project to make
On the query on extending the credit line time by India, Bagchi referred to the visit to New Delhi by Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa last month.
“He briefed the Indian side on the economic situation in Sri Lanka and his government’s approach in addressing these challenges. India has always stood by the Sri Lankan people and Sri Lanka is an important part of our neighbourhood first policy,” Bagchi said relying on support to the island.
The above dialogues and discussion proved that India was ready to help Sri Lanka. Therefore, after mutual agreements and deals that were beneficial for both the countries, India extended a relief fund of $1 billion to the present Sri Lankan government. This was a good move indeed and helped Lanka in its time of need. However, after the March relief extended by India, Sri Lanka is again seeking for an additional credit line of $1.5 billion on top of the earlier funds. This credit line will also be met by India, which will be used by Sri Lanka for the import of its essential goods like rice, flour, sugar, pulses, medicines and more, as far as the Reuters reports go.
The help, extended by India, will undoubtedly be beneficial for the economically devastated Lanka and will further help in bettering the relations between the countries. India always proves that it is very much ready to help out everyone and set an example of moral duties for onlookers.
It is not that the nation of Sri Lanka has found this issue very sudden, but that the country is experiencing it for quite some time now, which is more worrying. It has been two years since the pandemic started and globalised but the foreign reserves at Sri Lanka were depleting long back and it only shows some leniency. The tolerance of the Sri Lankan government can be detained in the present crisis as a reason for the same.
India, as a supporting country, has always been together with other countries who are in need. It plans to do the same this year too, even when the shadows of the pandemic are hovering above still and India itself needs support. It is time that every country follows the same rules and morals so that the world can be a happier place to live in. The pandemic has massively accelerated empathy in the world and whatever lies ahead, we can feel a sense of togetherness.
FAQs
Why is there an economic crisis in Sri Lanka?
The economic crisis that Sri Lanka is currently undergoing points to a severe depreciation of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. The crisis started back in 2019, when there was a massive dip in the country’s overall produce, which declined by 50%. Then the Covid19 pandemic struck, which made it insanely difficult for the country to recover, followed by a ban on import on March 2020. Now, the struggle of the country is real, with debts piling in and the government requesting relief funds from the other countries to import the essential goods.
How much does Sri Lanka owe the world?
The national debt of Sri Lanka is around $51 billion, as of March 2022.
Is Sri Lanka in an economic crisis?
Yes, Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic and debt crisis, which started in 2019 and is continuing even now!
Covid-19 has completely disrupted the Travel and Tourism Industry at both the national and international levels. With the worldwide lockdown and the heavy travel restrictions, the industry has lost not only domestic and international tourists but also local visitors. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), International tourism has witnessed a loss of $1.3 trillion in 2020 while the Indian tourism industry saw a revenue loss of ₹1.25 trillion, as per the CARE Rating study.
The pandemic has impacted all divisions of the tourism industry such as inbound, outbound, corporate, MICE, adventure, and leisure and will continue to underperform for the next two quarters. Tourism will account for 9.9% of the country’s GDP by the end of this decade with the help of Government initiatives.
The losses to the Indian Tourism Industry in 2020 have been huge but 2021 shows the revival of travel with the rise in vaccination. Significant changes were observed in traveling like more emphasis given to safety, cleanliness, and hygiene. The states that are getting the maximum tourists are Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Goa, and Kerala.
Ever since the Covid-19 Pandemic had arrived, the tourism industry started evolving and changing ways in order to suit the needs of travelers. With the reduction in Covid cases in India, theCentral and State Governments of the respective states have issued many standards and basic operating procedures in order to resume services. Major protocols are being taken as the security scan at the entrances of various locations like hotels and airlines involving thermal screening and sanitization and the staff is even extra cautious than before.
The Post-Covid Scenario of Tourism Industry
Many countries around the world are catching up with innovative solutions and activities to boost their country’s travel industry. Some of them include safe travel bubbles, SG Clean, Qatar Clean initiatives. Many travel agencies are now providing incentives, offers, and discounts to get people to travel. Understanding the solutions and practices being followed in different countries will help India in implementing the right strategies for the survival and revival of its tourism industry.
Many services have turned contactless and are following all major protocols of safety and social distancing. Simpler activities like live cooking, disposable cutlery, online food delivery services, and digital menus aids in the growth of the industry. The hotel, restaurants and resorts are following strict SOPs for Covid-19 to create a protective environment. The government is also providing relaxation against free loans, provident fund relief, and GST.
The relaxation in the lockdown along with the gradual lifting of travel restrictions shows constant opening and closing of travel make tourists feel uncomfortable to travel internationally. But 2021 saw an increase in domestic tourism, while foreign tourism is expected to remain low until the situation improves. One of the main reasons for the future boom in the domestic sector is that travelers in 2021 prefer to explore their own country and go on short weekend trips.
Here’s a look at the most affected sectors of tourism due to pandemic
Hence, increases the sightseeing of remote destinations and helps the locals to get their livelihood back. This, in turn, boosts the local economy, creates more jobs, and helps the hotels and restaurants of the region, promotes local art handicrafts and culture. With more importance given to safety and social distancing, tourists think that it is safer to travel shorter distances than compared to the longer ones. This is why many people are opting for short road trips to unknown destinations with less crowd.
The domestic vacation is now on top of the traveler’s bucket list for 2021. Just the first week of January 2021 saw 70% of users booking for future domestic trips on Tripadvisor. In the US, over 74% of travelers preferred to go on an overnight domestic leisure trip in 2021, and over 34% are planning domestic trips, which is quite high as compared to other countries like Australia (31%) and UK (24%).
So let’s take a look at the 2021 travel industry’s trends that are likely to show up in the future.
Travel Industry Trends in 2021
Workation Trips to Increase
Work plus vacation or business plus travel is not a new concept that has arrived in 2021. But the business travelers are said to be rising in 2021 because many companies are opting to work from anywhere culture. This is why they have come up with brilliant travel plans that will help employees work along with leisure. Employees also have the option to bring their family members. The concept of business travel is getting popular as people have started to realize that all people need is electricity and a good internet connection to work.
Work plus vacation has become a latest trend now
Road Trips are the New Trend
With many restrictions and travel bans, people have started opting for short road trips. Many tourists have started avoiding public transport like buses, trains or even airlines. Instead, they plan to go on road trips in their own vehicles or rent a car, as it is a safer option. Road trips are popular among tourists of all age groups and families. In addition to that, it reduces the travel expenses and vast options of destination to choose from.
Road Trips, a budget-friendly option for travelers to travel around the city
Promotion of Sustainable/Eco-Friendly Tourism
The pandemic has made people realize the importance of implementing sustainable ways of traveling. The tourist now is looking out for eco-tourism to get in touch with nature. In 2021, tourist focuses on responsible travel to remote locations or natural areas in order to experience the local culture and contribute towards the sustainable growth of environment. Tourists have become more conscious nowadays and are accepting more eco-friendly methods to reduce their carbon footprint.
Sustainable Tourism has become traveler’s best choice for embracing the nature
Travelers are keen on researching more before making any travel plans. With Covid-19, it’s no surprise that people are more conscious to travel. According to a survey, more than 74% of the global tourist population say that they will spend more time researching everything about their destination. People are spending more time in reading reviews or checking for better accommodations before planning any itinerary.
Post-vaccinations Impact on Travel
With the rise in vaccination drive, the travel industry has started blooming. People have started planning their trips as they’re excited to finally be able to travel carefree. The new travel protocols, however, will include compliances for travelers including Immunity passports for tourists to provide proof that the tourists are vaccinated for the virus. More than 77% of global travelers likely to agree to travel internationally only after getting vaccinated.
Why Travelling Will Never Be The Same
Solo Travel is the Way
Solo travel or even backpacking has grown exponentially with the pandemic. Co-living is also another new trend related to solo traveling. It is when solo travelers are looking to save money and time by getting out of their comfort zone and meeting other solo travelers while traveling. Solo travelers involves themselves in activities that includes social distancing.
Solo Travel has become a new travel industry trend
Safety and Cleanliness are the Priority
Safety and cleanliness have become priority for travelers across the globe since Covid. And the travel industry is already implementing major guidelines and protocols including PCR tests on arrival, mandatory masks, sanitation, and frequent cleaning in different sectors like hotels, airports, restaurants, etc. to provide a safe environment.
Many experts in the field have given their recommendations on how to get the industry back on track. Some of them include:
Airlines, hotels, restaurants, and other tourist operators can adopt greener and eco-friendly solutions in order to increase their business while being sustainable.
The industry must encourage renewable energy and green project to help the environment.
The government must try helping the industry with interest-free loans for up to 5 years which makes it sustainable.
Implement compulsory masks everywhere and basic social distancing laws and regulations.
Promote lesser-known tourist destinations of India.
Make it easier for the tourist sectors to get licenses, permits, and renewal.
Reduction of GST rates in the travel and hospitality sector.
FAQs on Travel & Tourism Industry
What are the top travel industry trends in 2021?
The top travel industry trends in 2021 are:
Workation Trips to Increase
Road Trips are the New Trend
Promotion of Sustainable/Eco-Friendly Tourism
Research Before Travel
Post-vaccinations Impact on Travel
Solo Travel is the Way
Safety and Cleanliness are the Priority
Which one sector is going to see a rise in tourism in 2021?
2020 has completely disrupted the travel industry but 2021 is showing the revival of travel. The tourism sector will be very different than what it was before. The domestic sector is witnessing a surge as people are avoiding foreign travel and the situation is going to remain the same till the pandemic is over.
What are the SOPs followed by the tourism industry in India?
The SOPs followed by the tourism industry in India are security scans at the entrances of various locations like hotels and airlines involving thermal screening, wearing masks, sanitization, and social distancing.
What is the fastest-growing trend in the travel industry?
Eco-friendly/Sustainable tourism is one of the fastest-growing trends in the travel industry.
Is the travel industry growing?
The travel industry will slowly and gradually see a surge in the traveler once the pandemic is over. Currently, domestic tourism is growing at a slower pace. The reason being, people are feeling bored to remain at one place and therefore planning short trips.
When situations turned worse for most of us due to the Covid-19, and all of us were restricted to our homes with few hopes of breaking the chains and going out, EaseMyTrip managed to sail past the hurdles and made their stock market debut on March 8, 2021.
The journey wasn’t an easy swim on calm waters though!
Covid-19 has turned the tables for all of us and on almost all occasions, it has been for the worse. The period of the pandemic has seen everything including layoffs, pay cuts, dissolution, and liquidation but in the midst of all these horrors, EaseMyTrip, led by the brothers, Nishant Pitti, Rikant Pitti, and Prashant Pitti, launched its Rs 510 crores initial public offering (IPO).
After the co-founders diluted their 25 percent stake, they were set to issue shares worth Rs 510 crore. The company stated they were oversubscribed by 159 times, which put forth a demand of around Rs 44,881 crore. The total valuation of the company stood at Rs 2,040 crore during the IPO, as per the reports.
Prashant Pitti, one of the co-founders of the company made it clear that EaseMyTrip has never been a company that heavily stressed on marketing. “The company was profitable and growing. It felt like a good fit for the IPO”, added Prashant.
Each share was sold at Rs 187 during the IPO, which is now trading at Rs 230. The shares of EaseMyTrip have thus generated around 23% profit for investors within just two months.
EaseMyTrip was successful in making a business of Rs 4,204 crores in the previous financial year. The EBITDA of the company for FY20, as per Prashant, was Rs 49.8 crores, and that for nine months of the financial year 2021 was around Rs 43.4 crores. It was towards the end of 2020, in the month of December that the company’s overall cash or cash equivalent raised to Rs 208 crores from Rs 148 crores in March 2020.
According to Prashant, the company has listed 17 percent of the share amount above the premium, which is still consistent.
Why was this feat hard for EaseMyTrip to achieve?
EaseMyTrip is a company that drives its sales through its wide range of travel booking services including flight booking, booking of hotels, and processing visas. For a company that is based on the travel and tourism industry, the coronavirus pandemic was surely an uphill journey more than ever. However, according to the company, they have been frugal, curtailed a lot of things, went wise with several others, and aimed for the bigger goal to pull off such a feat!
EaseMyTrip Profit
How did EaseMyTrip manage to achieve this feat?
The growth that EaseMyTrip showed during the pandemic might seem unprecedented to most of us but it is simply a result of a lengthy effort for days, months, and years.
EaseMyTrip made a breakthrough in the market
EaseMyTrip, the brainchild of the Pitti brothers was started by the idea of helping people go about their travel bookings seamlessly and bringing parity to the whole booking process.
Back in those days people exceedingly relied on the booking agents to make their booking possible, and ultimately ended up paying more to them. In one such flight booking made by the father of the co-founders, the Pitti brothers discovered that their father paid more to the agent than the actual prices online. This incident led to the launch of EaseMyTrip in 2008.
The Delhi-based online travel agency initially aimed to ensure that the travel agents would receive the same prices and commissions as they did from the other similar booking websites.
Furthermore, they also ensured that the customers would also stay in this loop and would receive the same prices from the booking agents. Moreover, the team also wanted to build a software as a service program that would serve as an easy-to-use webapp that would make travel bookings hassle-free.
While the travel booking agents initially had to pump in some money with each airline to avail of the bookings, they received only around 3-4% commission. However, EaseMyTrip, on the other hand, came up with the idea of letting the travel agents book for any airlines against an initial deposit of Rs 50,000 and allowed a 5% commission on the same. This helped them effectively reduce their capital expenses and increase their profit margins.
Bootstrapping their way forward
As soon as EaseMyTrip was launched, the founders decided to raise money to start with their company, however, the market was found unfavorable soon after that. EaseMyTrip focused on a B2B market, which was something unique in the market that was already full of B2C companies like MakeMyTrip and Cleartrip. This well made EaseMyTrip a competitor to the already established online travel companies and also left bootstrapping as the only option left.
EaseMyTrip bootstrapped their business success as a B2B company, and soon entered the B2C market offering the facility to avail their services without any convenience fees.
Countering the Covid-19-induced adversities
Though EaseMyTrip was a running business well before the pandemic struck the markets, waddling through the pandemic was difficult for any business, and EaseMyTrip was not an exception. However, the company had to win over the situation anyhow, which they managed with the help of some laudable efforts from their end.
Rising up to the dizzying demands
As soon as the lockdown was announced, the government decided to resort to extreme restrictions on traveling, including a dead stop of both the railways and domestic and international air travel.
This resulted in multiplied call volumes. EaseMyTrip also had to abide by the work from home culture and resorted to WhatsApp messages to tackle the overflow of calls, which were then responded to by the executives one by one.
This not only boosted the goodwill of the company during these testing times but also helped in keeping things on a budget.
Early refunds policy
Deeming that the people are scared as well as scattered all across the country, EaseMyTrip decided to refund the money of their customers on a priority basis, even before the airlines refunded them their money.
This immediate refund policy was something really unique and positive responses came pouring in from all around the world in favor of EaseMyTrip all around the social media platforms, which further increased their reputation and added to their credibility.
Wise advertisement campaigns
As soon as EaseMyTrip absorbed the positive vibes, they thought it fit to come up with a unique advertisement campaign on social media, titled “Saath Laakh Crore ka Kharcha”.
The sole motive of the advertisement was to share the message that the Indians spent around Rs 7 lakh crores annually for their vacation. Therefore, they can easily avail of their bookings via EaseMyTrip, which is a 100% Indian company with huge benefits.
For this advertisement, EaseMyTrip had to reach out to 5-6 celebrities but the responses that the company received were overwhelming!
Discounts were curtailed
After the lockdown was lifted for the air travel, EaseMyTrip soon found out the pulse of the customers and discovered that they weren’t much concerned about the discounts and were only looking to make their trips possible. Therefore, the company reduced their discounts and managed to draw in the one percent commission that they received after negotiating heavily with the airline companies.
No pay cut policy
Payment deductions were on a rise with the COVID-19 and are always silent blemishes to a company. Therefore, EaseMyTrip ensured that they would not adopt such practices even if they had to shed some of their total strength. They reduced the total number of employees from 450 to 370 in the first wave of the coronavirus spread but they haven’t opted for any further reductions or pay cuts since then.
The Future Ahead for EaseMyTrip
“People travel for work, leisure, and to meet extended family. All this has stopped now, but it will restart”, going by the words of Sreedhar Prasad, Advisor, Analyst, ex-KPMG, and ex-Kalaari Capital.
Conclusion
The travel and tourism industry happens to be one of the worst affected industries post-Covid. However, the industry would soon rise and will be among the first set of booming industries.
FAQ
Who is the Founder of EaseMyTrip?
Nishant Pitti is the founder and CEO of EaseMyTrip, the company commenced its operation in 2008.
Is EaseMyTrip profitable?
According to a Motilal Oswal, EaseMyTrip is the only OTA in India to have a good net profit margin over the last three years.
Tourism has entered into a great crisis due to the worldwide panic of the Corona Virus pandemic. Till this moment of time its duration and scope still unknown which is creating a great destruction in the economy of the most of the countries. This has also lead to the stock market crash continued for a week to all the giants of the sector in different countries. One of the point which comes in the mind of most of the people is the impact of the COVID-19 Corona Virus on world tourism. This is one of the unanswerable question for us, and the authorities’ forecasts are based on previous experiences with similar crises such as that of H1N1 and SARS and many other dreadful diseases. Let us discuss the impact of COVID-19 corona virus on the tourism industry of different countries.
Effect on Tourism Industry of different countries.
Effect on Tourism Industry of different countries.
Let us first check the contribution of tourism industry in the GDP of the top countries.
United States ($488 billion)
India ($230 billion)
China ($224 billion)
Germany ($130.8 billion)
United Kingdom ($103.7 billion)
France ($89.2 billion)
Italy ($76.3 billion)
Spain ($68.8 billion)
Brazil ($56.3 billion)
Most of the countries in this list are the one having the beat medical facilities in the world. They are having a huge GDP and this is all possible due to the big contribution of tourism industry in their country. There is a drastic effects on Tourism Industry due to COVID-19. We can calculate from this stats that many of the people will be going to refuse or going to reschedule their plan of vacations due to this pandemic in these countries, which are adversely affected.
China was the first country to suffer from this dreadful pandemic and so China’s tourism industry will be most affected due to the virus. The Chinese tourism industry represents 11% of their GDP and even growing in the last few years, will be going to get worst affected even after many years of this pandemic.
In 2020, Italy is expected to see a decrease of roughly 28.5 million tourist arrivals due to the impact of (COVID-19) coronavirus pandemic on the country’s tourist sector the GDP of the whole country. Same situation will also be there in Spain for few, till this situation gets controlled by us. According to the estimate, some of the parts of Italy like the region of Veneto can record the highest drop with a decrease of roughly 4.61 million arrivals due to this pandemic. Similarly, Lombardy is expected to register a decrease of about 3.87 million arrivals in 2020 which can change the future of the whole country.
Effect on Tourism Industry and other businesses connected with it
Effect on Tourism Industry and other businesses connected with it.
There are many other businesses which are drastically effected by Tourism Industry due to COVID-19.The tourism industry is connected with many other businesses like Hotels, airlines, and cruise operators which are also going to suffer. The pandemic has outbreak during the Lunar New Year which is one of the busiest travel seasons in Asia- the largest continent and thus a bigger source of investment in tourism industry.
As a result of (COVID-19) coronavirus pandemic, it I predicted by most of the market leaders that the global travel and tourism market is going to see a loss of 75.2 million jobs worldwide in 2020 due to almost no business in this sector. The region that is supposed to see the biggest loss from COVID-19 is the Asia Pacific region which can see a lose of approximately 48.7 million jobs, while European countries is forecast to be the second hardest hit with a forecasted employment drop of 10.1 million due to this pandemic.
PV Vyshnavi
Pratyusha Srivastava
