On July 27, 2021, Euromonitor had a panel discussion, with Ali Angus, Head of Lifestyles; An Hodgson, Senior Manager, Income and Expenditure; and Lan Haa, Economy, Finance, and Trade Manager. The debate, themed ‘The World Beyond the Pandemic,’ discussed the Future Of Globalisation, the Future Of Work And Education, and the Future Priorities And Preferences in depth.
Euromonitor is a prominent independent source of strategic market research around the world. They collect and analyze data on tens of thousands of items and services all across the world. This information is then used by businesses to better analyze the needs and wants of the customer in order to better serve them than their competitors.
In light of the “The Future of Globalisation,” part of the debate, the tourism and hospitality industry must remember that “our world is connected”. This means, due to increased globalisation, the COVID-19 pandemic’s ripple impact has been felt across the globe, resulting in the loss of lives and employment, as well as a dip in general economic activity. Diversification, Digitalization, and Sustainability are some of the new consumer trends that have emerged because of this. Diversification means as businesses aim to create resilience and manage geopolitical risks, they diversify their suppliers, manufacturing areas, and markets. Digitalization combined with automation in manufacturing means cross-border e-commerce and digital trade will grow in popularity. While, Sustainability means businesses will be paying greater attention to environmental, social, and governance issues in international investment and global supply networks.
The debate’s section on “Future Priorities and Preferences” addressed a shift in consumer priorities. As consumer lifestyles will become more home-centric and digitalized, with a greater emphasis on health, social responsibility, and environmental management. As statistics show that, 74% of consumers globally use technology to improve their daily lives, with 57 % believing their decisions may make a difference. For the tourism and hospitality industry sector this means catering to eco-friendly and environmentally aware customers.
For example, Initiative Imagine, based in Argentina, has introduced a “vacations without a footprint” service in which customers can download an environmental tourist guide app based on The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s “Green Passport” campaign to assist them to assess, decrease, and offset their carbon footprint while on vacation. Consumers’ decisions about where to live and how to travel around will now be now influenced by their desire to be healthier, safer, and more environmentally conscious.
In conclusion, 78 % of industry professionals believe that new ways of working will have a significant impact on businesses. However, there are some challenges to overcome and consumer needs to meet in order to effectively sustain these new approaches of running a successful current and post-pandemic business. Therefore, to ensure that their businesses stay afloat during these challenging times, tourism and hospitality stakeholders must be flexible and agile, speed the change to digital, be people-centric, and be sustainable.
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