Life needs the Caribbean! Caribbean Coronavirus Traveller Sentiment Webinar

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“No! I am not okay, I just had to cancel my business trip.” (Twitter Post, March 27^th, 2020)

“Since our 2020 trips are cancelled, my girlfriend wants to travel more then ever when it is over.” (Twitter Post, March 27^th, 2020)

The economic system breakdown has been the one aspect of this entire debacle that has really hurt people on all levels. Industries all over the worlds are shutting down, and for many of these industries, the future looks bleak.

One industry that refuses to go down without a fight is the tourism industry. Empty hotels, cancelled flights, closed tourist sites. The COVID-19 has crippled global tourism, and the industry is expecting losses running into billions.

Toronto Caribbean Newspaper was invited to sit in on the Caribbean Coronavirus Traveller Sentiment Webinar hosted by The PM Group Marketing Communications and Sparkloft on Thursday, April 2^nd, 2020. The point of this webinar was to shed light on what has happened, and what is happening in the industry. Some of the questions posed were:

• Why this crisis is different?
• What are consumers thinking?
• What will the next phase of this crisis be?
• How to adjust your marketing as a tourist destination?
• How to prepare for a recovery campaign?

Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace from the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association, and Hugh Riley (The PM Group) reminded us that the Caribbean is the most tourism dependent region in the world. There is no clear idea when this will all clear up, so the webinar helped destinations to get their houses in order and begin to: support income replacement measures as far as possible, accelerate the development of individual skills/knowledge as recommended, and examine efficacy of all tourism programs in government and our organizations.

The analytical part of the webinar was directed by Martin Stoll of Sparkloft Media. Sparkloft Media is an award-winning social-first creative agency. They focus on social-powered data and insights, social media management, and full-service creative development. For this webinar they highlighted: the stages of the coronavirus, what comes next for the tourism industry, community conversations, and how the tourism industry can support the global community.

The stages of the COVID-19
Jobs are being lost, and there is a lot of uncertainty within the industry. In Australia, people are quarantined for two weeks. In Hong-Kong, people are being forced to wear electronic wristbands to ensure they are staying within the quarantine guidelines. You are not allowed to visit Japan if you are not a citizen. Although most flights have been cancelled, with airlines like Flyus, you can book seats, as they now book to accommodate for social distancing.

The five stages of the coronavirus analysed are: Denial, Unease, Panic, Quarantine, and finally Frustration.

Denial
Denial was estimated to last from early January to February 25^th. For many, Coronavirus was a thing in China, and many destination marketers were preparing for spring and summer vacations.

Unease
Unease began to sit in around March 10^th.  Music festivals and other events were cancelled, and destination marketers were trying to understand if everything could be postponed.

Panic
Panic officially set in around March 12^th. This is when the toilet paper rush began, and airfare was at its cheapest. Destination marketers began to understand the depth of the situation, and asked people to postpone their travel plans.

Quarantine
Many Caribbean islands began their quarantines the week of March 16^th and Zooming becomes part of our daily reality. Destination marketers came to the decision that the best thing to do was to keep people entertained and connected to the brand destination.

Frustration/Desperation
Majority of the world is in a state of frustration and desperation. People are going crazy in quarantine. They are worried about loved ones near and far. Many are worried about finances. Destination marketers have become empathetic to this and have had to navigate carefully through the new system and show gratitude to their loyal client base.

Community conversations
There are three types of conversations being heard in the community during this time: community support, spread blaming, and pharmaceutical opportunities. Community support has been displayed practically, as people in communities are rallying together to show support for one another. Spread blaming are conversations blaming travellers who took advantage of cheap deals to the Caribbean during the early phases of COVID-19. Finally, pharmaceuticals

believed to help fight COVID-19 and those necessary for chronic disease management increases and displayed the US reliance on China.

Focus on community
What needs to be done at this point to get both the tourism industry, and the communities it affects through this pandemic?

 Show compassion
People are dying. People are losing their jobs. This is not the time to be selling to people. This might have been the method of operation in the past, but at this point, we have to embrace a different future. It is time to build relationships and adjust creative output on a weekly basis.

It is imperative that large organizations: understand the personal impact the crisis is having on employees and the community, identify how people are feeling and what they need, and then create or promote programs that provides relief.

Overall, there needs to be a shift in how the tourism industry deals with their clients and the communities that support them.