These are the step stones to face a successful restart:
1. The right place and timing
Travel-warnings and regulations are handled individually by every single country in the EU. Each foreign ministry of each country publishes its own travel advices. E.g. Germany has a general travel warning for almost every state outside the EU, until end of August. People from Austria and Switzerland have a much wider choice of destinations not being affected by a warning.
→ Each of the German speaking markets have to be addressed individually, with a different timing and different arguments.
2. The right partner for you
COVID-19 has hit the entire tourism market in the world. European tour operators are under enormous financial pressure. Many hotels and inbound had to face an abrupt stop of payments from their longtime key partners.
→ The key question is: Which tour operators have still the financial standing to be a reliable partner for the restart. Background checks are more vital than ever.
3. The right provider for your guests
During the recent months, many tourists learned it the hard way. It can be safer to travel with a tour operator being able to bring them home if necessary. This applies especially for the long-haul travel sector.
→ Direct business with travelers won’t be an easy sell. It is essential to find cooperation partners with trusted brands.
4. eRepresentation - The right tool set
In a dynamic situation like this, traditional representation and marketing will fail. Too slow, too inefficient + most people will still refuse personal meetings. COVID-19 is a driver for digitalization. And this should apply for the representation business, too.
→It is time for an eRepresentation, that is flexible and works on the basis of a transparent CRM system, providing deep insights about partners and prospective clients, using the whole bunch of the digital tool sets as eLearning, eWorkshops, eMagazines, market-insights, based on big data and professional meeting software.
5. The right representative
It is crystal clear: Since the beginning of the year until now, financial resources of many touristic enterprises are dried out and innovation is not for free. Where should the digital push, so strongly needed, come from? Traditional companies in the representation business face huge financial and organizational challenges realizing the strongly required innovations in time. Their setup and staff is not aligned for such business.
→ There is a shift from traditional tourism service-providers to the digital industry, where – out of an innovative mind-set – new solutions are created.
Conclusion
COVID-19 has blown away common business relations, distribution channels and marketing models. A new, agile approach, based on data and digital tools, is needed. Under this paradigm shift neusta tourism created representation and marketing services for hoteliers and inbounds that are fast, efficient and provide value for money. Based on our enthusiasm for tourism, more than 20 years of experience in market development and the know-how of the neusta group, being one of the biggest players in online marketing and online solutions in Germany.