We are blessed with fantastic trade media, and the information they share is particularly valuable at a time like this. But I can’t bear to see our industry tearing itself apart.
At a time when the whole world is in disarray, and the global travel industry is on its knees, we should be standing together, united. Yet we seem to have turned on each other.
This crisis affects everyone involved in travel, from the travelling public, right through to the family that normally provides the fruit and veg to a rural lodge, and everyone in between.
We could all work together. Consumer rights experts, travel trade bodies and individual companies could look for a united solution to the cash crisis that is impacting everyone. We could collectively approach the government for a solution that works for everyone. We really could.
But instead, we have consumer champions pointing the finger at the travel industry. Sectors of the industry pointing the finger at other sectors. All looking to blame someone for the crisis.
But none of these people are to blame. How can they be? The blame lies with an invisible, silent killer. A virus that none of us has any control over, which is taking lives, destroying families. Covid-19 has created a situation that was unthinkable outside of a Hollywood blockbuster. Unthinkable. Unexpected. Unplanned for. Impossible.
So why all the finger pointing? I wish I knew. I wish I understood.
Some of it is frustration, I imagine. And some is born from misunderstanding. But, incredibly, some is also deliberate.
Some of this comes from people looking to take advantage of a terrible situation, using the crisis to position themselves and their companies in a particular way that will allow them to benefit once travel bookings take off again; making their competitors look untrustworthy.
But some of it defies even that explanation. I’ve recently seen the travel industry referred to as a "ponzi scheme" because of the difficulties surrounding refunds. That’s an interesting choice of phrase. It brings certain connotations with it – fraud, wrongdoing, profiteering. It’s a highly emotive word. It’s curious that it has been used to describe the perfectly normal business practice of having a managed cash flow and a certain level of working capital. All businesses run like that. All businesses need cash to keep flowing. When the cash stops flowing, the business stops working. That’s not what a ponzi scheme is.
The next time you go to the supermarket and pay at the checkout, have a think about the money you are handing over. Is that money flowing directly to the company that manufactured the food you have right there in your trolley? Or is it paying for the food that you bought a month ago? Of course, it is being used to pay invoices for the food you, or probably someone else, bought 30, 60, or even 90 days ago. Is that a ponzi scheme? Are you complicit in helping the supermarket in defrauding the food manufacturer?
Because if that shop were to close down the following day, the food in your trolley may never be paid for. Would that make you a criminal? Part of a ponzi scheme? Or is that just how cash flow works in every business?
Right now, we stand together on the edge of a cliff, and we have a choice. I’d love to think that we can join hands, so that if one of us loses their footing, they have friends and colleagues to hold them steady. We must stand hand-in-hand, resisting the push of those few people that are trying to push us over the edge. Those that wish to divide us, those finger-pointers, those naysayers.
This crisis has brought families, communities, countries together in a way that was unimaginable just a few short weeks ago. As a country we’ve stood united, we’ve stayed at home, we’ve clapped for our carers, joined local voluntary groups. What a shame it would be if we did all this while allowing our beloved industry to be ripped apart.
Let’s not let the few ruin our industry.
Stay safe.
Callaghan is the general manager of the Latin American Travel Association (Lata)
