Shift in demand: in search of job recovery in tourism

The Covid-19 pandemic is already more than a year old in our lives and tourism, as we know, has felt its effects like no other industry. During this time, both the public and private sectors have been able to study the mechanics of demand, even projecting what will come in the short and medium term. Experts assure that they have a glass mold that has been broken, the seasonality that we knew until February has been forgotten. The huge question mark is whether the tourism market is willing to adapt and grow while changing amid true chaos.
It is not simply a matter of recovering and becoming profitable again, the urgent thing in reality is how they can survive without reducing their workforce further. In this sense, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) assured that the health crisis of COVID-19 impacted 53% of the total jobs generated by the sector globally. This figure reveals friends and strangers.
Virginia Messina, Executive Director of the WTTC, said: “The benefits of tourism go far beyond the economic impact to countries and destinations, our sector has a positive impact on communities, providing opportunities for economic development, social welfare, conservation and protection. of its natural and cultural resources, in addition to other benefits such as the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability, among others ”. 
He explained that the travel and tourism sector would have registered for nine continuous years, until 2019, an economic growth greater than the global economy. In the latter, respectively, there was an increase of 3.5% compared to 2.5% in 2019. In addition, the tourism industry contributes more than 330 million jobs worldwide; one out of every 4 new jobs were generated by it.
Referring to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has generated, he pointed out that 174.4 million jobs during 2020 were affected and that is why it is important that there is a global recovery plan for this industry, where there is greater collaboration between the private sector and the governments.

Bittersweet panorama
Prospects for recovery remain cautious. The latest UNWTO Expert Panel survey shows a mixed outlook for 2021. Almost half of respondents (45%) foresee better prospects for 2021 compared to last year, while 25% expect a similar performance and the 30% foresee a worsening of the results in 2021.
As tourism resumes, the UNWTO Panel of Experts foresees a growing demand for outdoor and nature-based tourism activities, national tourism and the experiences of ‘ slow rides’ are gaining increasing interest. 

Seasonality and its ferocious trap
To reduce seasonality, destinations can implement certain strategies. First, segment the market and work with different target audiences, considering both their motivations, their origin, the experience they seek, etc.
After this first step, it is necessary to expand the value proposition, designing products and services that encourage visits at times of valley, increasing the offer to the different actors of the destination’s tourism ecosystem, diversifying the traditional routes through the cities with new routes.
As a next idea, destinations should innovate in the way of communicating and selling the destination both in substance and in form, as well as in the appropriate channels for the target audience segment; after all, destinations change at different times of the year and dress differently for each type of traveler and motivation.
Once the previous steps have been implemented, “excuses” can be generated to attract travelers, linked to gastronomy, the consumption of local products, specific events such as music and sports, activities in the countryside, nature, all of which are intrinsic motivations to a post COVID era and finally complete the vacation offer with business travel and MICE elements, usually less sensitive or even uncorrelated with the seasons of greatest demand.

States and their opportunity
In this scenario, destinations face a new opportunity, as evidenced by the fact that the vast majority are designing and defining their strategic tourism plans for the coming years.
The ultimate goal of tourism to return its wealth to society requires destinations to be oriented towards a sustainable, diversified and seasonally adjusted model. And within this framework, the reduction of seasonality is a critical need expressed by all of them.
It is not an easy challenge, especially in those destinations where the weather is not good, however we should avoid this topic, obviously without trivializing it, including in low season other elements of tourist attraction capable of attracting other types of public less prone to “Sun and beach” and more sensitive to “culture and heritage”.