SINGAPORE – Ahead of the anticipated increase in travel cost due to pent-up demand and weak supply post-COVID-19, the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) is urging the industry to collaborate and maintain pre-pandemic prices as much as possible to “ensure regional competitiveness”.
ASEANTA is currently in discussions with governments of ASEAN countries and tourism stakholders to help minimise the negative impact of COVID-19 on its members, who are National Tourist Organisations (NTOs), hotel and travel associations and national airlines.
President Mingkwan Metmowlee said the association is rallying industry stakeholders to extend their support in four crucial areas.
First, it is calling on travel and tourism businesses to “keep the price for visiting ASEAN the same as before the pandemic happened in order to maintain regional competitiveness until 2021”.
Ms Mingkwan voiced hopes that the overall cost of travel can be kept to the same or capped at a 10% increase, with airlines possibly raising costs between 10-20%.
“It’s important to recognise that now is not the time to profit but to collaborate and regain business together. It’s not about short-term profit but to instil travel confidence.”
She foresees that it will take one to two years before businesses will be in a better position to review travel pricing. On her part, her agency has committed to maintaining pre-COVID prices for its key MICE clients who are from France and have decided to postpone travel plans to 2021.
Secondly, airlines “should provide flexible conditions and sensible refund regulations to allow the travellers and tourists to make better decisions”, said Ms Mingkwan.
Thirdly, ASEANTA is also calling for members to continue marketing ASEAN as a destination as a crucial strategy to help the industry as a whole to recover.
Finally, raising awareness of health and hygiene standards will also be a key focus.
“Many things will change. The tourism industry will limit the number of tourists, due to the industry now being aware of the impact of overtourism. There will be more investment on the preparation to welcome all the tourists,” added Ms Mingkwan.