battuta Halal Travel Magazine

Page 18

THE

FUTURE of

ın the Post

covıd-19

era

halal tourısm by Reem El Shafaki

The Travel Industry in Lockdown The world has come to a standstill; or at least that’s what it feels like to the travel industry. Previously overbooked flights are now flying empty; hotels in some countries are shuttered while others have been ordered to open at 50% capacity; travel companies that were once managing multiple itineraries seven days a week, currently have empty calendars. Senior travel executives and company owners, scrambling to make ends meet, now make difficult staffing decisions while worrying if they can sustain their own families over the next few months. These same business leaders wonder when this crisis ends and

recovery begins, will people still have the appetite and economic means to travel? When executives are not battling the current crisis or worrying about the financial bottom line, they are planning for an uncertain future, reading everything in sight from trusted travel experts, attending every webinar, and talking to their friends and colleagues in the industry to gauge their predictions and determine how they’re coping. Halal travel businesses incur the same challenges except for the fact that most are small businesses, making it harder to weather the storm.

Predicting The Future As a director at DinarStandard, a growth strategy and execution management firm specializing in the global halal/ethical economy, I have been approached by industry players asking for our insights on what the future might look like for the travel industry. While no one has a crystal ball, experts are looking at past economic trajectories, gauging consumer sentiment, and tapping into the foresights of experts to make predictions. Due to the growing demand, we at DinarStandard will be preparing a Brief on the ‘new normal’ for post-COVID-19 travel based on the early signals we’re seeing. In this article, I’ll be discussing some of these signals and what they might hold for the future of travel.

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