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Has the Travel Industry been affected by Coronavirus?
Yes, it has been greatly affected by COVID-19. This is because most people who were looking forward for a holiday example over Easter will not be enjoying the outdoor experience and the places but will be at home with restricted travels.
What has been the impact of Corona virus to the travel industry?
I can say that the impact of Corona virus to the travel industry has been the worst hit industry. Travel and Leisure has been greatly affected by the pandemic both locally and internationally. It has resulted to clients cancelling their holidays and trips, cancellation of airline tickets. Also recently, most hotels locally are closing down for a stipulated period of time for safety measures and lack of business.
On percentage estimates how many people canceled their trip because of Corona?
I would say it depends with the dynamics of the travel. Roughly an estimate of about 90% canceled their trips to various destinations as a result of travel bans internationally.
Locally, after the first case of the virus was reported in Kenya, some clients opted to travel to local destinations. After the first statement was issued by the president an estimate of about 95% postponed their trips.
For guys who booked but cannot travel anymore do you refund them or can they change the trip to a different time?
Customer satisfaction is everything in the tours and travel industry, hence depending on the client’s needs we mutually agree on the best course of action. As tour consultants during this pandemic we urge our clients to postpone the holiday to a later date or month during the year. This is because refunds are affected by cancellation policies as per the terms and conditions once a client purchases the package. To avoid the client losing any money, we advise on change of dates of the travel.
Do you have those who did not cancel? Actually a majority of our clients did not cancel their trips, they changed the dates to a later time during the year. And can they still go for the trip? Currently, with the situation at hand we would not advise them to travel. Once things settle down, our clients will be in a position to travel to their preferred destinations.
Can people still go for a destination trip in Kenya while maintaining social distancing? If so how can it be done? We do not advise on travelling during this pandemic since the risks are high. However, if an individual would like to go for destination trip in Kenya, we advise on self-drive packages and on limited hotel properties since most of them have been closed down.
Anything you would like to add?
I would like to request Kenyans to take the necessary measures and remember staying at home today means travelling tomorrow. I would also like to urge them not to cancel their trips but change the dates so that we get to save Tourism Together.