and How, say industry insiders Travel suffers early and

TRAVEL SUFFE RSEA RLY SIGNIFI CANT SETBA CK

VFS hopes for resilience in the sector

Visa facilitation is a prerequisite to international travel, and VFS has been the pioneer in the business. We catch up with Vinay Malhotra, Regional COO, South Asia, the Middle East & North Africa, Americas to find out recent sectoral trends in India, and globally where they operate?

On the global visas front, what is assess how we can use our resources effi the ground reality today, such as ciently and responsibly to maintain the wellthe number of offices open, and doing being of the company and our employees. what? More specifically, what is the What steps has VFS taken in line situation in India? with current safety steps being Inline with the rapid changes in COVID-19 recommended globally? safety measures globally, the majority of our Meanwhile, our teams continue to safeguard the visa application centres for 64 client govern health of our employees and customers by ensur ments across 146 countries of operation are ing the use of precautionary measures as advised closed for an indefinite, though temporary pe by the World Health Organisation and local riod, according to the instruchealth authorities, such as regu tions of our client governments It will no doubt lar hand-washing, body temperaor local authorities. Currently in India, all our Centres remain closed till 14 April 2020, as per government directives. be challenging for organisations to balance ture screening at operational centres, use of hand sanitisers, disinfecting high-contact sur faces, and awareness notices at How do you see trends in travel shaping in the foresee able future? What does it variations in demand, while maintaining our centres. What is your forecast for the coming months? And how do you mean for VFS, in terms of infrastructural see your organization maintaining its infrastruc ture and costs? While it is premature to comand operational efficiencies. coping with the task ahead? That said, the tourism sector is ment on the COVID-19 impact a highly resilient one and we are on visa application trends, it is confident it will rally and show clear the travel and tourism sector globally has a positive trend when the situation improves and faced an early and significant setback. We are people are able to get back to their travel rou unsure how long the pandemic will last and tines as soon as they possibly can. Having said economists expect a recovery of the travel and that, we are also monitoring the evolution of the tourism industry only by mid-2021 or even later. industry due to this crisis, aligning ourselves It will no doubt be challenging for organisations accordingly to face demands from ‘the new to balance variations in demand, while maintain normal’ that may emerge. In India and around ing infrastructural and operational efficiencies. the world, we are even more committed to le

Has VFS done any down-sizing, veraging on technology and operational exceland how do you see the situation lence to ensure an enhanced customer experipanning out? ence in a post-COVID world – an important Over the last few months, we have witnessed aspect of this is keeping our Visa Application a slowdown in business across the world and Centres in peak readiness from hygiene and hence have had to undertake several cost-effi safety perspective and ensuring customers are ciency measures across the company to effecable to enjoy a smooth visa application process tively manage the situation. We continue to for when they are ready to travel again.