Zheng Dingquan
Secretary of Board Directory, Vice President
Guangzhou Lingnan Group Holdings Co., Ltd.
Q: Is your business / organization affected by the recent outbreak of coronavirus? To what extent?
A: In this outbreak, tourism industry bore the brunt of the impacts that are proven costly: travel agencies withdrew group travel and flight+hotel package products; restaurants had to turn eat-in customers away; we called a halt to regular business activities and temporarily shut down all scenic spots. The overall impact of the COVID-19 on tourism seems to be greater than that of SARS.
Q: According to your optimistic estimate, how long will it take for tourism to fully recover from the negative impact of the outbreak?
A: My optimistic estimate is that tourism will start to resume in May. The market will need at least six months to stabilize and revive until fully recovered by early 2021. Catering segment will lead this round of recovery. Business exhibitions and conferences with government support will also help to stimulate the growth. Day-trip excursions and domestic tourism will rebound first while outbound and inbound tourism will gradually do contingent upon the situation of global epidemic.
Q: What do you think is a key point that our industry must pay attention to when it recovers from the crisis? (Please pick only one)
A: It is key to grasp the changes in consumer psychology and guarantee effective supply of quality products and services. It is inevitable that the mentality of our consumers will be altered because of the epidemic. Their confidence to travel will decline and many will become more concerned about certain aspects of tourism such as safety and health, leisure and wellness, and green and ecology. A business will have itself a leg up on everyone else in the market competition after the crisis if it can manage to meet the latest aspirations of the customers through development of products and services.
Q: What change (positive or negative) do you think the outbreak may eventually bring to the tourism industry in the future? (Please pick only one)
A: The crisis will, to a certain extent, promote market concentration, business structure optimization, and online-offline integration. The fittest will survive, and new business models and products will thrive. There will be challenges, but there will also be opportunities.
Q: Please share with us a story of your business / organization in dealing with the crisis that others may draw experience from. (Please focus on one aspect)
A: We must maintain awareness of risks and good resilience. Easily affected by cyclical fluctuations and vulnerable to risks, the development of tourism is full of uncertainty. To enhance the anti-risk ability, a business should maintain its strategic focus on the building of med-to-long-term strength, such as the brand, product quality, innovation and financial health, and always remain customer-oriented.