Uncertainty drives agencies to look for new business models

Tourism distribution in Spain considers that its survival is threatened in the short and medium term, according to a survey by Interface Tourism Spain. However, the sector is focused on readjusting its business, looking for new models and products to face the recovery in the best conditions and offering a more personalized service.

Although Spanish tour operators and agents see the survival of their companies threatened in the short and medium term as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, during the most critical phase of the pandemic, the companies in the sector have sought various formulas and business models to guarantee their viability and prepare for the pandemic;During the most critical phase, companies in the sector have sought various formulas and business models to ensure viability and prepare for recovery, innovating in destinations, products, markets and technology.

This is the main conclusion of the study “Study on the Impact of covid-19 on global tourism distribution” which has been conducted by Interface Tourism Spain, in collaboration with its global network Travel Consul, in 30 markets worldwide, including Spain.

The report's findings reveal that this crisis has affected the Spanish travel trade in a number of ways. According to the survey data, 38% of the companies in the sector went to work part-time and one in four had to lay off almost their entire team; while a third of them sought other fórmulas, such as ERTEs or closing their businesses temporarily.

In this sense, agents and tour operators have opted, for the most part, for strategies such as adjusting their business model, designing new tourism products and investing in technology to improve their offer and customer management to ensure their viability and survival.

These measures are intended to mitigate the effects of the slowdown in the tourism business and prepare business structures for declines in revenues that, for the vast majority of respondents, will be concentrated in the third quarter of this year.

DIFFICULTY TO SURVIVE

In addition, many professionals in the sector perceive that, under current conditions and with limited help from the administrations, their businesses will not be able to survive in the short (one to three months, for 50% of respondents) or medium term (four to six months, for 28% of respondents).

The uncertainty is clear: in fact, 53% have no clear forecast as to when they will return to a volume of activity similar to that prior to the crisis, and 43% expect the recovery to occur in 2021.

The experience gained during the most acute phase of the crisis will drive changes in business practices in turoperation and among travel agents: widening of communication channels with customers, modification of change and cancellation policies and promotion ofnew commercial agreements.

On the other hand, respondents say they will do more digital and social media campaigns, and diversify source markets, products and destinations; in fact, the vast majority of survey participants say they will work with destinations and suppliers that were not in their portfolio before.