This AFAR Live session discussed the current ups and downs of crisis management. Watch now to listen in on a group of global hoteliers and hospitality representatives digging into how to manage your business when the world—and our industry in particular—feels so uncertain. The virtual event also covers marketing strategies, how to stay hopeful and positive, and tips to take away in this conversation led by AFAR editor Annie Fitzsimmons, joined by CEO Greg Sullivan, that also includes the following panelists:
- Agnelo Fernandes, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President, Terranea Resort
- Nicky Fitzgerald, Owner, Angama Mara
- Caroline Klein, Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications and Public Relations, Preferred Hotels & Resorts
- Jules Perowne, CEO and Founder, Perowne International
———
Afar.com is a digital and print magazine that publishes travel tips, guides, news, and stories: https://www.afar.com
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- Agnelo Fernandes, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President, Terranea Resort
- Nicky Fitzgerald, Owner, Angama Mara
- Caroline Klein, Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications and Public Relations, Preferred Hotels & Resorts
- Jules Perowne, CEO and Founder, Perowne International
———
Afar.com is a digital and print magazine that publishes travel tips, guides, news, and stories: https://www.afar.com
Get updates on the latest articles, travel news, and more from AFAR by signing up for the AFAR newsletter: https://afar.com/newsletters
Follow AFAR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfarMedia
Follow AFAR on Twitter: https://twitter.com/afarmedia
Follow AFAR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afarmedia
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TravelTranscript
00:00 on this call really. First we're trying to survive. In the travel industry this
00:05 is particularly challenging. Travel basically went to zero almost overnight
00:09 but like hospitality and entertainment, travel is suffering through a much
00:14 longer deeper bout than most industries. Second we're of course trying to set
00:19 ourselves up to be successful once the crisis eases. And then third to take care
00:24 of as best we can with limited resources in the interim, our employees and
00:29 contributors, our audience and our partners. So to achieve these objectives
00:35 we're resolved to react quickly, trying to anticipate what's coming next, but
00:41 also not to overreact because you only get so many reactions. And so with that
00:48 washing machine we were in early of the first few weeks of this thing that was
00:52 really hard. And then of course being transparent and all of that has just
00:57 been so challenging I think for all of us in the business. Being transparent is
01:02 hard when things are confusing and that's not very reassuring to
01:07 people but you just can just be as honest as you can.
01:11 Fortunately you know things began to look up for us in our business in May
01:15 and so you know we were seeing lots of positive signs but as the COVID
01:21 cases started increasing in late May early June you know marketers started
01:28 putting campaigns on hold. So at the end of June beginning of July we basically
01:34 had to implement some more cost savings measures which of course are very
01:39 difficult and not pleasant. So I guess in that sense I'm in a bit of a down phase
01:46 you know because the US is generally in a down phase right now. But on the other
01:52 hand I feel good about how we've handled things and where we are positioned.
01:57 Our editorial team's done an amazing job. You know we've been focused on
02:01 inspiration of course, entertainment, which we always are, but you know here
02:06 with a special empathy to the audience and destinations during these
02:09 extraordinary times and most importantly I think being providing accurate,
02:14 balanced, and responsible information for the audience. All this has to be done
02:20 with a lot of skill because people are in different stages of this thing at
02:24 different times based off their geography, based off their own personal
02:27 health, and the circumstances of those around them. So our team has you know
02:34 just done a great job and I think media has done a great job in during this
02:39 crisis but I think a lot of media has really been too
02:43 sensationalist and tended to see this thing through political lens, which might
02:48 be good for people's business but not really for the world. It's really
02:52 regrettable. And our team I'm really proud. We've been very thoughtful,
02:56 reflective, you know not knee-jerk reaction and fortunately our audience has
03:03 responded amazingly. They're reading more, they're reading longer, they're coming
03:08 back time and again and our audience is growing. It's doubled in size over this
03:12 time. So you know I feel like our relationship with our audience is
03:18 deeper, more valued, and better than ever. So I feel good about that. So I guess
03:23 ultimately finally trying to answer your question, I feel optimistic. I mean we all
03:27 know there's gonna be another side of this thing and the real question is how
03:31 much pain between here and there. We've got to try to minimize that but of course we only have,
03:36 there's only so much we can do. It's a lot outside our control on that pain
03:41 that we've got between here and there. So mostly I feel determined to do our part
03:46 to make the, well first I got to make our company better, but also to help make the
03:51 industry better. I think this is such an opportunity and responsibility for all
03:55 of us to do things better and make the industry better than it was before and
04:00 that's our special challenge. You're up and down. In short. Well not
04:09 actually you know I mean something that helped for me was traveling. So right so
04:13 and that's actually a good lead-in to asking you Jules because we
04:17 traveled actually together to Spain and you have a background in crisis
04:22 management actually. When the two Malaysian airplanes went down
04:27 you were working on that and that's actually a huge crisis right but no
04:31 crisis that was travel stopping. And also I mean you're in a different position
04:36 now because you're in Europe and I keep telling people I kind of have to
04:40 remind myself that of course Americans are not where we are because it does
04:43 feel a lot more hopeful here and there's travel advertising up in London and it
04:47 just we're further along right. So how do you feel and can you talk about you
04:52 mentioned these five phases which are different than what I had heard before
04:55 as well. Yeah well they were just how I felt personally and I think the thing
05:00 about this crisis has been that it's any kind of precedent of before was just
05:05 thrown out the window. Yeah so we my old agency handled the Malaysia airline
05:09 well was handling the Malaysia Airlines account and both those tragedies
05:12 happened and it was a moment of like the realization that a crisis is no more a
05:19 food poisoning incident or a you know child going missing in a kids club that
05:23 a crisis could be anything and of course with social media how quickly things
05:27 just develop so quickly. Usually on a Friday night when everyone's just gone
05:31 home crises always have this great way of developing when everybody you know
05:35 when when it couldn't be the world's timing and probably about 20% of our
05:39 work nowadays is crisis planning. We have a crisis management expert in the
05:44 business because we have to because how quickly a crisis and it can be anything
05:49 can can take down a brand or can be misinterpreted or whatever it is. So I
05:55 mean I guess the Malaysia thing was it was it was an interesting wake-up call
05:59 to us of what a crisis could be I mean who thought that would happen twice to
06:02 one brand but yeah I didn't plan for a global shutdown of travel. What I did see
06:08 in early February was that how bad it was going to get and actually as a even
06:12 as a company our own crisis management we proactively went out to all of our
06:16 clients in early March pre lockdown and offered them all significant fee cuts to
06:21 help us get through and keep them as clients and things but by then we were
06:24 already planning for the worst case scenario and and that is that is the
06:28 point now it's about adapting so quickly it's about turning your strategy you
06:33 know adapting within hours of notice it's not about sitting there thinking oh
06:38 in two weeks time we'll do X Y & Z it's acting on it and you can see the brands
06:41 that did are doing okay through this and so just talking about those phases they
06:47 were they were shock they were survival they were rebuilding with practical
06:52 steps then it was about opportunity and and creativity and that's that's the
06:57 phase I feel like we're in now of course there's ebbs and flows we're having
07:01 moments when we're paranoid or terrified there's going to be another shutdown and
07:04 there probably will be you know locally but but I feel like this is what we've
07:09 been through a lot of these have involved quite a lot of alcohol I'm not
07:12 gonna lie trying to get through but you know I think they are almost like phases
07:20 of grief I love that when we were talking the other day at the beginning
07:22 and then and now we're at that point of inspiring how do we now create an
07:29 inspiring enough travel experience for people want to get back out there and
07:32 yeah of course Europe's different and you know I'm off on a big road trip to
07:35 France this week you and I went to Spain two weeks ago I felt like we were
07:39 pioneers again Annie last week yeah we were there people were engaging with us
07:44 as we were traveling on that airplane I felt like there were like hundreds of
07:47 people with us there were just you know six of us and and it was so important to
07:51 show people that it's it's not a terrifying experience that we you can
07:57 get out there you can literally flap your wings and go and and have some wine
08:02 and enjoy it and laugh again and I think it was so important and I and I feel
08:07 like our role in the industry all of us is to show that and share that with
08:10 people you know absolutely 100% and again I think I mean I'll definitely be
08:16 following your trip through France too and wanting to go myself and I think at
08:20 a certain point for a certain level of client - it's like you know what pack
08:24 your mask let's go right like that's I mean there's a lot of little issues and
08:29 things like that but right now I mean that might be the simplest way of saying
08:33 it yeah you've got two sides of people right you've got the people that are too
08:38 scared to travel and just you know leave those people to find their in moment
08:43 when they feel comfortable to do it again and then you've got the people who
08:45 are like I want to get away and I actually want this experience to be as
08:49 fun as possible and as as normal as possible and yeah look we were at
08:54 Finkacooltty and we some you know the staff wore masks it was quite amusing
08:59 when we're in a shop and we didn't know whether to put them on or not and all
09:01 the rest of it but actually it was a really enjoyable experience and and you
09:06 know I guess the brands that have got to really rethink things are those brands
09:11 that have got a target a different demographic because there is a
09:14 demographic of people that is too scared to travel and and we've got to respect
09:18 that for the next year or two years or however until they find a vaccine but
09:21 there is this enormous desire to travel from a whole different segment and we've
09:26 got to you know help build trust confidence and most importantly
09:31 desirability to travel because if the experience isn't desirable why would you
09:35 bother going you know stay home yes absolutely yeah um so and that actually
09:40 I mean I'm like I have so many questions for all of you but Nikki you know
09:44 the news came out this week that Kenya is reopening to international travelers
09:49 as of August 1st and you run an incredible one-of-a-kind safari lodge
09:55 resort what all of it together with the most incredible views in Kenya so what
10:00 does that look like for you now and how has it been for you something you said
10:03 that I loved was throw away a crystal ball right there's no crystal ball no I
10:09 I told my board in March at an emergency board meeting we had after we closed
10:15 that we would definitely be open by the 1st of July and we would run a full high
10:19 season and all would be well well I couldn't have been war off was a bit
10:24 embarrassing actually but luckily I have a very supportive board and some great
10:28 investors and they've stepped in to to ensure that that we can keep everybody
10:32 on the payroll and I think that for me in an owner-run business and luckily it
10:37 is one only one thank goodness my stuff there was my most my biggest concern was
10:45 that they would be cared for so we have done that put in that plan all the way
10:50 through until the middle of next year and and on we trudge then we the most
10:56 important thing I think we did during shutdown was social media messaging was
11:01 all about the energy and the fun and the activity and and what was happening at
11:07 the large with the team that that we left behind so I've had a team of 40
11:11 people rotating through the lodge for the last four months on six week shifts
11:15 and the message has been a gamma is as fun and as busy as ever except we have
11:22 no guests so the messaging wasn't about just about tomorrow or virtual game
11:27 drives or anything like that it was very much about the people and and as you
11:31 know the great African saying you know we came to Africa for the animals but
11:35 we'll come back to the people and nothing could be truer and so for me it
11:39 was important that not only the staff felt that the that the lodge was alive
11:44 and and and and in good hands but that our audience knew that too then we were
11:51 allowed to welcome domestic travelers from the 15th of July which was just
11:56 last week which we did which was exciting we have not really had big
12:01 following domestically in in peak season because our peak season rates are at
12:07 this sort of of the scale but we've got some fantastic offers in for the
12:12 domestic market and we've having lots of fun with our with our local travelers
12:16 coming through to stay with us and then first of August we open president
12:21 Kenyatta's open borders now I'm not expecting 10 billion people to arrive in
12:26 fact if only two people arrive I'll be completely delighted and I've said to
12:31 myself it doesn't matter they'll be nice where we have no guests luckily I'm
12:34 gamma's divided into two camps so we're going to go one camp at the moment of
12:38 15 tents and I said it's fine just people will come when they're ready to
12:43 come America does make up over half of our guests usually and of course
12:49 Americans just can't well I don't if they can't travel there are most welcome
12:54 in Kenya which I think has been quite fun to watch the Kenyan though the
12:58 American ambassador Nairobi saying come it's great and we've had we've got some
13:03 Americans coming in but again as we were chatting and I think that the confidence
13:08 is getting on the plane I think that's the only step that people think will I
13:14 be okay on a plane because we all know when we get on a plane we get off a
13:17 plane we've got a coat so now if we get on a plane we get off the plane we work
13:20 over that's not so funny but I think the airlines are doing an incredible job of
13:25 marketing how they're going to keep passengers safe airports the same so I
13:31 think if that messaging can can can be apt from both the airlines and the
13:35 airports just so that people think okay well to get came you've got to take a
13:39 few flights it's not like going maybe to to France or to Spain you can one flight
13:44 or you can even drive if you want to so to get that traveler confidence up that
13:48 you'll be okay on the airplane I think that's the biggest thing and once you
13:52 get to Africa I mean it's just wide open spaces and so there's none of that
13:56 anxiety of you know will there be lots of people there and will there be a
14:00 crush no not at all and then by some quirk of fate as the lockdown lifted so
14:06 did the migration decided that now's a good time to pour into into the Mara so
14:11 for the last four or five days we've had tens of thousands of Vildebeest pouring
14:15 over the Sand River into the Mara so this is going to be a strange migration
14:20 season because normally it is heaving with tourists this migration season of
14:26 August September probably well into October because it arrived fairly late
14:30 my advice to anybody would be if you're happy to jump on a plane and come come
14:35 because you're gonna have the migration all to yourself and boy that's it's a
14:40 bit like seeing the Mona Lisa all by yourself you know it's you don't have to
14:43 worry about any any of the of the others there so it would be a great time but
14:48 again I'm very respectful that people are anxious about about getting on a
14:52 plane once they come you know we'll smother them with love and look after
14:57 them and ensure that they're safe and well and again I was yesterday in our
15:02 chat I think I was saying you know keeping guests safe is second nature to
15:06 us in Africa because it's all we do all day and COVID is just another one of
15:11 those things you've got Buffalo COVID puff adders mosquitoes yeah open vehicle
15:17 small aircraft yeah my staff have really embraced this this you know looking
15:23 after guests because it's it's kind of in our DNA anyway so we're ready and we
15:30 look forward to work we've missed our guests most terribly I'm sure as the
15:33 other hotel is on this call it's just it's just been awful it's been it's it's
15:38 unthinkable that we've had no guests but but we're open and I love that because
15:43 you you know your marketing like you didn't want to focus on that it was
15:46 closed right that it wasn't you you didn't want it to have mothballs all
15:49 over that so I love that during it was all about not only the the animals but
15:53 of course the hotel being there and the people working there which I love and I
15:57 course what you know mentioning the airplanes I think it is people do want to
16:00 say stay safe of course it's up to us in the media as well to tell that story you
16:05 know the risk factors of getting sick on an airplane are really low and then also
16:10 you know people want it to be as easy as possible I think a lot of people are
16:14 concerned about what does the security look like is it gonna do I need to be
16:17 there five hours beforehand like telling that story is important as well so I'll
16:25 come back to that question Lauren those are really good questions that you're
16:27 putting into the chat so Agnello I wanted to go to you because you know you
16:32 have this beautiful property but you know unlike someone like Nikki you've
16:37 only 5% international right which is actually on one hand really great right
16:41 because you already have this domestic audience built in but at the same time
16:45 you're 65% groups and events so you're having to pivot in that way so how do
16:52 you how are you focusing more on leisure in a country that isn't behind this well
17:00 first of all thank you for having me here it's really an honor and I want to
17:05 thank Greg you Annie Joe and Annalie for allowing this opportunity and at the
17:12 outset I'd like to say you know last year was amazing because we celebrated
17:15 jointly celebrate a 10th anniversary with afar and I think we created in
17:20 magic so hopefully that magic comes back to us in good times so yes we are a
17:26 group heavy house here at Terrania 65% of our business comes from groups and
17:32 events but we've seen that start to dissipate right through the end of the
17:37 year at this point and so we've turned our focus squarely on the leisure side
17:42 of things for the immediate future and so you know just to set the stage you
17:47 know for me and for our guests in the community Terrania is the embodiment of
17:52 a true Californian experience you know we called Terrania life which means that
17:56 you get to experience the authentic California experience where the
18:00 inspiring tastemakers you know you have sea and land adventures you have style
18:05 and sophistication you have spine wellness golf and an amazing up here in
18:10 scene and Terrania is blessed with her physicality it's oceanfront panoramic
18:16 views from every vantage point you can think of and a destination style
18:20 amenity base and most important to this whole puzzle is its location even though
18:27 you feel far removed from the hustle and bustle of all the metro areas one is
18:31 just about 45 to 50 minutes away from from most attractions and the airports
18:36 so as you know as we have taken this pivot as if you will and you know thought
18:42 less about groups for the immediate future don't get me wrong groups are
18:46 still booking into the future into 2021 and we do believe that there'll be
18:51 smaller groups as long as the mandates are eased off by the the government both
18:57 at a state and local level but we've prioritized the leisure traveler and
19:01 what we've done is we've kept them constantly updated through our Terrania
19:05 life platform really blessed with a very loyal base of especially local guests
19:10 and visitors who continue to hit nice the property and right from the time we
19:15 closed on March 19th up until today we actually amped up our communication kept
19:22 it really robust kept it informational and you know like some you have
19:26 experienced in the social media engagement has never been greater and so
19:30 we one of the things that we've done and done with intent is social listening
19:36 especially in these times we want to be aligned with our community and
19:39 understand their preference their expectations but also speak to the
19:43 emotions because a lot of folks are going through various different emotions
19:46 but we found that they come back to us and tell us what they really would like
19:52 to see at Terrania so to that effect we intentionally built our awareness
19:58 campaign within the local drive and select flight fly markets you know
20:03 there's not a whole lot of flying going on as we talked about earlier but we
20:07 are really blessed in Southern California but they're roughly 18
20:10 million residents within a two to three hour you know drive drive radius and we
20:15 reach out to them and we make sure that we are communicating with them the
20:21 expectations from the pre-arrival you know stages make sure that the
20:26 communications continues on-site and we are practicing everything that they
20:31 would expect you know as as far as possible contactless experiences and
20:35 then we make sure that along the journey we're also keeping in touch with their
20:39 post travel surveys because that means a lot to us those are nuggets that we then
20:43 build our programming around as many of you know Los Angeles and the Southern
20:49 California area has been it's been very dynamic with the government mandates and
20:53 it's programming is still one of the reasons folks come here and based on
20:59 what we've heard from our constituents we make sure that we are actually trying
21:03 to deliver a true experience as far as possible in dining, golf activities
21:08 whether it's land or sea as well as far as much as we're able to. And then all of
21:14 this and one of tyranny's pillars is sustainability and we've stayed
21:18 committed to our practices minimizing the environmental footprint integrating
21:23 eco-friendly practices throughout the resort and you know making sure that we
21:27 protect our open space improve wild habitat and sort of the enhanced
21:33 water quality. That's good to know because I'm working on a story about that how we be sustainable in a COVID
21:39 world because there's so much single-use plastic so that's good to hear.
21:42 Yeah and you know for us at the end of the day
21:46 Tyranny Alive as I explained to you is the platform that we sort of launch
21:51 ourselves off of that's where the brand has been built and it talks about more
21:55 than just a resort state it is it is truly all-encompassing and you know if
22:00 you see the if you look at my screensaver it talks about Tyranny Up
22:03 Proud and I'd like to sort of tell you about a Tyranny Up Proud moment when
22:07 which happened to me about a year ago where one industry veteran commented as
22:13 he was introducing me to his business partner and he said you should
22:17 bucket list Tyranny it's where heaven meets earth. I gotta tell you that in
22:22 itself is something that people keep telling us all the time so we appeal to
22:26 their senses we make sure that our guests understand that we are
22:29 practicing the safest standards the sense of the safest of our abilities you
22:36 know sort of adhering to CDC adhering to the American Hotel and Lodging
22:40 Association the California Hotel and Lodging Association and making sure that
22:44 safety and sanitization and at the end of the day which which means comfort is
22:50 that the forefront of our of our experience. Yeah I love that because I
22:55 think too you know we talked about I've talked about all about about this with
22:58 all of you that if you lead with safety blaring first it's almost like leading
23:03 with fear first right but if you lead with why you travel right and why do you
23:07 go to a hotel and then this is what we're doing to keep you safe I think
23:10 that's what I mean I would say that all of us agreed on that. Caroline thank you
23:14 Agnello I'm dreaming of Terranea now and like someone said one of the best
23:17 sunset photos I've ever taken was at Terranea so but Caroline I wanted to go
23:24 to you now and Preferred I've always loved how you've approached branding and
23:28 when we were at ILTM and CAN we talked about Believe in Travel because at that
23:31 point our conversation was all about over tourism right it was almost
23:35 becoming like you know should we travel as much right and now it's of course
23:39 means something different. Can you talk about what Preferred is doing over the
23:44 last few months and you have an incredible campaign that you created
23:47 called Loving Local. Of course thanks Annie and Believe in Travel is our brand
23:52 promise because as a family-owned company and a company that has been
23:56 committed to travel and hospitality for 52 years we really approach travel
24:00 looking at the way that travel truly makes people better versions of
24:04 themselves and I think throughout this entire process we've been saying if
24:07 people even though you can't travel technically if people can just channel
24:11 those virtues we could all hopefully get through this with a more positive
24:16 hopeful mindset but you know I think throughout the pandemic it's been one of
24:19 the most fascinating times in my career especially working for Preferred Hotels
24:23 and Resorts now because we're communicating to a variety of audiences
24:28 so we have our 750 member hotels and throughout the pandemic our focus has
24:32 been on helping them stay on track as best as they can and be ready to thrive
24:36 once the recovery begins. We also have our global base of loyal travel advisor
24:42 partners, our mice planners, our I Prefer members, our social media followers, media
24:48 I mean you kind of name it it it runs the gamut so it's looking at how can we
24:52 communicate with all of these different audiences in a way that keeps them
24:55 updated as soon as information is available, staying feeling connected and
24:59 really engaged and then when you and I talked about it you know the first three
25:02 months we really pulled back from glamorizing travel to focusing on how we
25:08 could support all of these audiences in the way that they needed to help them to
25:12 help them get through it. So in terms of our member hotels so we launched a
25:17 COVID-19 resources page on our extranet for them that had articles that our team
25:23 wrote, best practices, valuable resources they could read at their leisure. We also
25:27 launched a market ready town hall series on a variety of topics from sales
25:32 tactics and revenue management to F&B in a post COVID world and on some of these
25:36 we had our travel advisors or mice partners come on and give the best
25:41 practices in real time and predictions. This really armed our hotels with some
25:45 valuable insight that they could take back to their property whether their
25:48 property was currently open or they were preparing to reopen. Our CEO Lindsey
25:53 Uberoth was also sending messages to all of our member hotels I would say about
25:57 every two to three weeks in the beginning to keep them informed on what
26:01 we were doing for them because it was really important that we weren't just
26:04 giving them best practices they could take away but we wanted to highlight
26:07 everything that our team was doing in-house to support them and how they
26:11 could benefit from it as best as possible because the reality is Annie as
26:14 you mentioned is that a lot of hotels were working with what I would call
26:18 probably skeleton crews so we wanted to give them tips that they could take away
26:22 from us and employ with whatever resources they had. Obviously our
26:26 social media efforts focused very much on armchair escapism and promoting
26:31 believe in travel to keep people dreaming and inspired about where they
26:34 could go when restrictions lifted. Now the biggest shift was there was no longer a
26:39 strong call to action to book because we didn't want to pretend like we thought
26:43 people could or were frankly ready to do that. When it comes to PR so I have an
26:49 amazing PR team based around the world and we shifted again from focusing on
26:53 the luxury programming our hotels had to helping support our hotels by telling
26:58 the great stories they were doing to support their local communities and
27:01 first responders. Great examples were Hotel Captain Cook in Alaska and the
27:05 Harry London. Typically that's not something we would promote but we felt
27:09 so strongly that this was the way right then that we could help them. In addition
27:14 we our marketing team made some fantastic updates to our I prefer loyalty
27:18 program to protect the hard-earned benefits of our members so we
27:21 communicated those as well again the consumer audience and we saw you know
27:25 everyone saw so many brand videos from CEOs during this time so we did a video
27:31 with our CEO speaking directly to the key audiences that I mentioned before
27:34 and then we also in May released a believe in travel video and this was
27:39 really again designed to inspire people to continue believing in travel as they
27:43 looked ahead to brighter or positive days to come. It got a really good
27:47 response because we didn't take the you can't do this now and we understand it
27:52 will get better it was just really focusing on looking ahead being positive
27:57 and continuing to really think about what you wanted after when this is all
28:01 done. So you mentioned to our loving local campaign so we our marketing team
28:08 throughout the three months was looking at what recovery campaign would make the
28:12 most sense to our hotels while being desirable and relevant for consumers. So
28:16 when it comes to supporting the needs of our hotels this really meant how can we
28:20 get travelers through their doors while keeping the rates strong. This campaign
28:24 ended up being called loving local and you know you and I spoke about it I
28:28 think a lot of us talk about where can I use my passport next where can I get
28:33 that next stamp what stamp don't I have but we shifted with loving local to have
28:38 people focus not on what they can't do right now given the restrictions but
28:42 really get excited about what you can do and that is traveling locally whether by
28:47 car or a quick flight because again you know as we're as we're thinking about
28:51 all of this if someone asked you what are the 10 to 20 things to do in your
28:54 favorite country could you answer it probably right you know the reasons you
28:59 go but if someone asked you that same question about your state or your
29:03 hometown or what's in four hours could you say the same thing and I personally
29:07 I don't think I could have. So loving local is a global campaign that
29:11 champions local and regional hotel stays offering rich added value so again the
29:15 hotels are keeping their best available rate but it's offering great perks like
29:18 daily breakfast first to a state credit fast track to elite status and because
29:24 we value so strongly the travel agent community we added a 3% bonus commission
29:29 for travel advisors who booked the package to further support them again
29:33 knowing that they were struggling just as much as the hotels if not more during
29:37 all of this and that was that was important and you know to your point
29:40 Annie with the marketing of it we're being very sensitive in terms of we're
29:45 not promoting Europe to Americans as we normally would have but we put together
29:48 campaigns that are talking my Midwest my Canada my Nordic so you're getting
29:53 the targeted offers where you can respectively travel we were really
30:00 excited that before we even launched the program to our database it had over a
30:05 hundred or sorry 220 bookings and then now in the let's say in the four weeks
30:13 overall it's generated more than 1,100 room nights across 391 bookings so right
30:19 now that's only available to book through July but because it's been so
30:22 successful rumor has it we're extending so fingers crossed that that happens but
30:27 beyond that you know I think we're so focused on keeping everyone connected
30:32 that we've been utilizing technology to help our hotels do roadshows with all of
30:36 our sales clients and then to Agnello's point we also you know we have 750
30:42 independent hotels which means they create their own programming and we
30:45 champion it and promote it for them so 750 hotels in 85 countries means that
30:51 there's 750 different health and safety sanitization policies at these properties
30:56 and we have our travel advisors and our customers asking for them so we also
30:59 partnered with Bureau Veritas to help our member hotels get certified by a
31:04 global authority thereby instilling guest confidence and then taking our
31:07 hotels programs and posting them to our website so wherever people are booking
31:11 they get consistent information I could go on and on and I'm gonna stop because
31:15 I know we have a lot of other people
31:18 I think that targeted local marketing is really great and I just got a question
31:22 about getting everyone's email addresses so everyone can I'll give my email out
31:27 at the end and everyone can email me to connect with people but thank you
31:30 Caroline I love all of that and Nikki I'm gonna ask you this now I mean
31:35 someone asked just to cover this do you see people making last-minute decisions
31:39 to come to Africa or are your guests coming in August those who waited in
31:43 hopes of travel such a unique opportunity to plan a safari at a
31:46 moment's notice I think more of the latter people who held their breaths and
31:51 you know knocked on wood and said let's let's travel and we've had some
31:56 inquiries for for August and September some new inquiries coming in
32:00 international guests but probably more of the latter it's going to be a it's
32:04 going to be a quiet a quiet high season but we'll see again I think as you said
32:10 somebody said earlier I think it was Jules's it changes by the hour yeah you
32:15 know you just think one thing and then and and then we don't know you know
32:19 maybe the countries will shut down or maybe Kenya will open and close and you
32:23 do you just don't know and and I think again we spoke yesterday about
32:26 resilience you've got to become you've got to be resilient and you've got to
32:31 make sure that especially people in South Africa that your wine said as
32:34 well stopped as our president is close to has closed that again for another
32:40 eight weeks I think so but really just just become and and reassure your your
32:46 your audience as Karen was saying and and most importantly reassure your your
32:51 staff your stakeholders just come and it's hard to become when you actually
32:58 feel like throwing yourself off the edge of the rafale but you can't do where all
33:02 of us the past few months sorry I don't have a mouth to jump in on that but I
33:08 think what we've seen so Nikki you'll be very aware of Scott Dunn who one of our
33:13 clients you know one of the biggest tour breaks here in the UK with an office in
33:16 the US and what they've found which has been great is those people who've
33:20 already had the confidence to take a little trip you know nipped over to
33:24 think court scene or wherever it was have actually said now oh my god the
33:28 experience isn't so bad I will go to Africa to see the migration if I can get
33:32 there and so I think it's again about just building confidence and then
33:37 somebody sees that that person's gone and they go oh my god and as you say is
33:41 the opportunity to see the migration in the Mara without probably seeing one
33:45 other vehicle and saying a crossing on your own and having that moment which is
33:49 a once-in-a-lifetime moment just even worth any tiny risk and I think that's
33:55 what we're saying is these confidence are so important well and actually Jules
34:00 I was gonna ask you too because you're so deep into the luxury travel right I
34:04 mean you are all luxury and I think that's that's incredible right now
34:09 because we all know that it's coming back quicker and but what is you know
34:13 the the luxury traveler if we could get into the psyche of the luxury traveler
34:17 right now what do you think is is there I I just think that person listen I think
34:23 the amazing thing about this scenario is that the trends that happening and just
34:27 simply being accelerated they were all there we all knew that these people
34:30 wanted these kinds of things but it's about being more real more raw and more
34:36 remote than ever before and for me that is that that's the eye on the prize you
34:40 know people want to go somewhere now and really feel I hate saying the word
34:44 authentic because all the PR people in the world hijacked authentic and made it
34:47 the most boring overused word ever but if we could come up with another name
34:51 but they they don't want silver service ultra-lux they want to go somewhere and
34:56 it just be like by the way we don't have a menu but we're just cooking something
35:01 that we just got off our farm like they just want to get back to this very
35:05 thoughtful genuine kind of people led great experiences and and that's what
35:12 we're finding like we launched this island of Panama in a circus last year
35:17 and I mean actually it's closed at the moment because it's offseason but we
35:20 could have sold that place over and over again it's you know an archipelago of
35:24 islands off the Pacific Coast of Panama it's like Jurassic Park and I think
35:27 there is this desperate desire I mean my god if you could put me in Africa right
35:31 now sitting overlooking the Serengeti or in the Mara like I need it you know when
35:36 you just feel that like desperate desire to get as close to nature as possible
35:42 and and I think you know my belief is that people's values have changed in
35:47 this time in a great way you know first of all we've been on this like hamster
35:51 wheel of new media you know how guilty we all are about the desperate need for
35:57 new new new and of course frankly there's a new hotel opening every day
36:00 every week every month that you can just focus on new but actually I think that
36:04 consumer having got off this crazy hamster wheel of the need to try every
36:09 single new restaurant in London and goes every single new bar and tried that new
36:12 dish and this new trend has actually gone hmm what do I need in my life what
36:17 do I want what makes me happy what makes me smile and actually is that paying
36:21 38 euros for a glass of champagne in a luxury hotel no would I like to try
36:28 their local beer and just sit outside and watch the you know the world go by
36:32 and and I think as PR people or sales people or whoever and as hoteliers we
36:38 have to be much more intuitive going forward about what people want what
36:43 they're gonna pay for what they're prepared to pay and and and strip back a
36:49 lot of the a lot of the kind of hype the stuff that just doesn't matter anymore
36:54 because I mean we you know Caroline love what you're saying with preferred it's
36:59 you know our hotels are privately owned whether they're luxury or not I mean
37:03 actually some of them aren't but they're just luxury in just being brilliant if
37:06 anything and and they're all just utterly genuine they're run by people
37:12 who care and love I mean they are so devoted to their staff their guests etc
37:17 and this has been a heartbreaking truly heartbreaking time for them to watch
37:21 businesses and the impact it's had on communities and guests and everyone and
37:25 I think I think that's what's important going forward you know strip it back and
37:30 this need now for guests to connect directly with hotels even if they're
37:36 still going through a travel agent or a tour operator they still want to know
37:39 where that hotelier is they want to trust these people and and that is about
37:44 simplicity and in PR world sales world we're all very guilty of just adding
37:48 layer upon layer upon layer to keep justifying our existence and I keep
37:52 saying to clients let's just strip it back let's just be very honest and and
37:56 then the more the more kind of honest and genuine you are and I love what you
37:59 were saying Greg earlier transparency honesty these are the important buzz
38:03 words of the future and yes of course we know that people are booking villas and
38:08 we know people are going on road trips and all the rest of it and fine we can
38:11 all talk about that but for me it's those are that raw real remote and I
38:17 feel very emotional about it because I think that's that is that is the truth
38:21 that's what people want whether it's in you know coming to Africa or as you said
38:26 now they're going going and just sitting and listening to the waves crashing
38:29 underneath you and I think that's what people need need they need it well and I
38:34 think I mean you nailed it when you said hamster wheel because I definitely felt
38:37 that right I mean it's like okay now I got to write about this it's new and
38:40 that you just start to think what is what does it all even mean anymore and I
38:44 think you know and there was a comment of course Billy Colbert talking about
38:49 how the US is having a largest civil rights movement in the last 50 years I
38:52 mean I think that's also a big part of people wanting to a make things right
38:56 and of course wanting to make sure that there's representation across you know
39:01 travelers industry and actually Billy we're having a conversation about this
39:05 on August 13th which our editor-in-chief is moderating about diversity and and
39:10 blacks and travel so we will be delving into that a lot deeper then so thank you
39:14 so much for the question sorry just to finish on that you're absolutely right
39:19 but the good brands the thoughtful brands will do well after this and
39:23 there's an opportunity and it's exactly Greg as you said about what you're doing
39:27 in a fall is to build that faster and I think across the industry we have an
39:31 obligation to look at that and in this moment when it's not so busy or as you
39:36 say Nikki it's not going to be your peaks you know your busiest peak season
39:39 to actually all of us look at our values and look at what we're offering you know
39:45 us on a PR and sales side and the social media side a hotelier to its guests etc
39:50 all different touch points and make sure we build back a business that is better
39:54 than it was before because now's the moment because as soon as this all kicks
39:58 off again we'll be back on that hamster wheel and there won't be that moment to
40:01 do it you know so I think that's the opportunity you know absolutely
40:07 absolutely and I think I'm gonna have all these lists of question for you guys
40:11 but I did just kind of open it up someone asked you know how do you think
40:15 we best identify the demographic that isn't too scared to travel and target
40:19 them but also at the same time be sensitive to the anxieties of clients who
40:23 are how do you talk to both of these people because you know nuance is hard
40:28 to do in marketing sometimes and like Greg was saying sensationalism and only
40:33 talking to one to one person so what do you guys think about that I'll open it
40:39 anyone wants to jump in I'm sorry guys go ahead um I think it's about your
40:49 language keeping it really simple and not over complicating and not over
40:54 selling I mean I've seen brands I don't know if everyone else is not the same
40:57 when they're just constantly trying to reassure it's like desperation and
41:01 actually you keep your messaging as simple as possible and allow people to
41:06 kind of take it or leave it but there is definitely the younger demographic that
41:10 are more confident travel yeah I agree and I think it's about making sure
41:16 people know what's available to them what's open and letting them make their
41:19 decision because someone might one day I mean as of the event of everything one
41:24 day someone might not be ready to travel and the next day they see something and
41:27 they're inspired and they do so by kind of self selecting people out without
41:31 knowing that they want to do that you're potentially hurting yourself because
41:35 everyone's to be inspired right now and it will just take that one little thing
41:39 to get them to book or not yeah I think it's really difficult I'm sorry Greg go
41:46 ahead no you please go ahead I was just gonna say I think it's difficult to
41:51 pinpoint and hyper target to that level as to who is ready to travel or not but
41:56 so I would counsel that you focus on your brand and the the elements that
42:01 make it what it is communicate the message of you know safety being at the
42:07 forefront of your priorities right now and that you've thought about every
42:11 touch point through the you know through the journey that not only our guests but
42:16 also our associates because people want to know that you're taking care of your
42:20 associates so that your associates working care for your guests are also
42:23 treated in the same in the same manner as long as you communicate that message
42:27 succinctly and with confidence I think that's the differentiator and then let
42:32 people make their choices based on the experience that they want to actually
42:36 make them make a memory of Nikki did a great example of it when she was talking
42:43 telling us about coming to the Mara and having migration to ourselves but
42:49 understand if you don't want to make it because you don't want to get on a plane
42:52 I mean that's what we've been doing it afar is I think it is just about honesty
42:57 transparency and under an empathy and understanding that you know people are
43:01 different situations and will make their own decisions we can still inspire but
43:05 we're not going to you know assume that that's appropriate for you maybe we
43:11 should have a campaign for people who've had covered yeah that was just a
43:16 throwaway comment because I'm one of those so I'm thinking as well well I
43:23 think I'm bulletproof now I'm gonna go anywhere so not really the case but I
43:29 think sensitivity I think Jules was touching on that I think sensitivity is
43:34 absolutely critical more so than empathy sensitivity one-on-one conversations
43:41 with guests how you feeling are you feeling comfortable are you feeling
43:44 safe what more can we do just to make sure that you have a great time and boy
43:50 are we ever gonna thank guests for coming now we always thank yes but
43:53 especially now because I think they've really dug deep to get even the two of
43:59 you going to Europe you probably thought and once you've done it it feels easier
44:03 and and you know the whole world has got this it's not like some weird thing that
44:08 is only in China or in Africa or in wherever I mean you know you know that
44:14 Nairobi has hospitals that are all covered ready so you know good private
44:19 hospitals so that that's also quite comforting I think in a way if I am
44:22 gonna get it you know at least at least you know we're all in this we're all in
44:28 this catastrophe together we are and Nikki were you able to find out it was
44:32 confusing about do you have to show a negative test or is it's I think you've
44:36 got to show negative test before you get on an airplane I think that's that's
44:40 going to be the that there's no quarantine in Kenya and there's there's
44:46 no testing when you get to Kenya but I think a little bit like for those of us
44:50 who travel with yellow fever certificates to various countries you
44:53 have to have them before you bought and I think that covert test is going to be
44:57 it's going to be the same the same thing you need it before you bought and
45:01 certainly no no quarantine and in Kenya once you arrive you arrived and you're
45:06 from and ready to go you're on your way and I'm sorry I experienced when you
45:12 land in Kenya Nikki is so great now anyway isn't it you just kind of whiz
45:15 through the airport you're straight on a plane off to the Mara like it's not like
45:20 you have to juggle people too many people and you know yeah it's dreamy I
45:26 mean this is now you've got the airport yourself you've got the migration to
45:29 yourself we're all ready to go to Kenya now but you have with the tests right
45:37 now is the timing them I just had to do it you know I was coming up to Maine and
45:41 I had to get a test and it took nine days to get results you know and it's
45:45 just that defeats the whole idea well we did in 24 hours at Johannesburg come on
45:51 great for you we got to get it together in a lot of ways Carolyn I wanted to ask
45:59 you because of course I mean you have data right and on locations and hotels
46:03 that travelers are really booking right now is anything surprising or yeah I
46:07 mean I think it goes without saying that in every market we're seeing leisure
46:12 drive market travel is King about 40% of our bookings globally are made in the
46:18 month or the month looking through spring so really people it's it's all
46:23 last-minute travel not to say that there aren't longer term bookings but I think
46:25 just with people not knowing where they really can travel or what might shut
46:28 down that's what we've been seeing when we reopened in when a lot of our hotels
46:33 started reopening in May even at the reduced capacity a lot of our resort
46:36 hotels especially in the southwest were sold out on weekends again at the
46:42 reduced capacity but it shows that people really still wanted to go so I
46:45 looked at the data yesterday and key bookers continue to be resorts in
46:49 Arizona Florida California Southeastern USA the Henderson Resort in Florida and
46:55 actually Chateau Alon in Georgia are among the most popular internationally
46:58 it's interesting in Asia primarily Shanghai and China and Taiwan in Europe
47:04 our resorts in Scandinavia are absolutely killing it compared to the
47:07 rest of the region Klaus K one of our hotels in Finland actually saw a 350%
47:13 increase in bookings week over week last week so it shows that Scandinavians are
47:17 traveling and they want to go our resorts in Switzerland and Monaco are
47:22 we're also seeing some bookings there but really Scandinavia is is where a lot
47:27 of the travel is happening happening right now does that include Sweden or
47:32 yes you know yeah yeah yeah I'm dying to go to Scandinavia so you gotta get you
47:38 to the Copenhagen so I'd like to just kind of go around and because the
47:45 question that I get a lot from when I talk to people and interview people is
47:49 there really has been this mental strain and anxiety and stress especially you
47:55 know March April May but now it's like coming out of it right like how do we
47:58 get through and like Greg was saying the amount of pain until we really get to a
48:01 point where it's not as painful so I just want to ask each of you how how you
48:06 stay hopeful in in this chaos and and what you do personally and professionally
48:12 whatever you want to say maybe I'll start with you Nikki well I've been
48:18 doing this for 40 years and it certainly is the biggest challenge in my career
48:24 that I've ever faced professionally and I'm hopeful because I've been as behind
48:30 Caroline we believe in travel people want to travel and people want to meet
48:35 new people and yes new experiences but I think that experience words jaws is also
48:41 being killed I think it's really about people connecting with new people and I
48:46 have great hope that it'll come back it'll come back steadily they're going
48:51 to be some big bumps on the road and we've got to be prepared for those but
48:55 we are we're in the best industry in the world by far it's taken the biggest knock
49:00 by far and we'll get we'll get through it I'm I'm half full no I'm overflowing
49:06 full which is supposed to retire this year but you're not now right as of
49:13 December 31st I know I was meant to and then how can you walk away from from
49:19 from your business if you know in this in this time so not only are we am I not
49:24 walking where we're looking again at ways of maybe doing some new things
49:32 what opportunities in a crisis Caroline what about you I'm just I mean Nikki
49:36 really took a lot of the words out of my mouth I think professionally our brand
49:40 promise of believe in travel inspires me so much because it really does again it
49:44 makes you feel better as I said but it creates communities among people that
49:47 never thought they would be in the same community so you know as Nikki also said
49:51 the travel and hospitality industries are so resilient and so you have to stay
49:56 hopeful professionally because it's up to us to do our part to make sure that
49:59 the industry and all of us who have dedicated our lives to it come out on
50:03 the other side really ready to thrive I think you know when it comes to people
50:07 we could all think about many trips we've taken and think about people that
50:11 we've met and what they've done for us and what they've taught us and I think
50:14 if that doesn't bring a smile to your face and kind of some of even the
50:17 darkest moments what really will personally I always think that staying
50:21 hopeful is a mix of staying positive and having drive which I know a lot of days
50:26 it can feel impossible but when I think about it's like we all only have one
50:30 life to live and we can either spend it getting down and playing the victim or
50:33 seeing every day and every challenge as an opportunity to improve our lives and
50:38 the lives of people around us and I think you know as as difficult as that
50:42 can be there's always someone who is potentially in a worse situation or who
50:47 doesn't have the ability to kind of dig themselves out the way we might have on
50:51 a daily basis so I just try to say that I have my moments trust me I do but I
50:56 think overall is just really staying positive and thinking about what can I
51:00 do for others around me I love that Agnella what about you I'm sorry we only
51:04 have a few minutes so I'm gonna that's all right I think for me it's really
51:09 about you know the the mindset and and kind of thinking about you know having
51:16 faith and and the confidence that child will be back you know our our home
51:21 office Coral Tree Hospital has you know their their line is travel is good for
51:27 your soul and it indeed is and I do believe that as things are extremely at
51:32 a rapid pace and very dynamic there is no playbook but it's really important to
51:36 understand that there is going to be a cultural and digital transformation but
51:41 you can slow things down and you slow things down by you know having this
51:45 attitude of gratitude you know being staying positive knowing that changes
51:49 the new norm and then making sure that you're connecting with people right
51:52 through this whole thing relationships matter and you know we've talked about
51:56 this but being flexible adaptable and agile and you know listening to your
52:01 audience and your constituents and saying you know this is this is
52:06 important this has to come back and you know what I where I find a lot of
52:09 successes is in leaning in and leaning into all the resources that I have and
52:15 whether it's was a California or our home office in Denver or even the you
52:22 know above all the leadership at Tanya which is driven by purpose and passion
52:26 so really keeping that that mindset that I have to be forward-thinking and
52:30 self-confidence because that is going to flow into others and you know just
52:34 seeking inspiration from whatever source that makes me take at this point and
52:39 above all just you know being safe at this point yeah and you know sleeping in
52:44 if you want to one day and I'd love that
52:49 you know for me it's just about getting back out there again and just connecting
52:55 with people love what you said that he is so true like how I felt after I came
53:00 back from think it was like how I felt in the first years of my job not even
53:04 knowing this amazing world existed and telling great stories again that's what
53:09 we've all got to do so for me it's just about diving back in you know when
53:14 September comes around feeling like totally inspired again to be out there
53:19 you know storytelling basically so that's it I'm off to France this weekend
53:24 you're off tomorrow I know now we just need the borders to open between America
53:29 and Europe. Greg I'll let you close and you can tell us what makes how you stay
53:35 hopeful too. Okay yeah I mean I think it's a very similar answer to everyone
53:42 here I mean I like you know we believe I believe travel enriches our lives and
53:47 makes us better people in a better world and and we started afar with that very
53:51 reason we wanted them to help make travel better and make people's
53:54 experiences better I think you know like I say I think this is an opportunity
53:59 like we've tried but like how can we do better and and do more and then this is
54:05 such an opportunity for that and so that's really invigorating that there's
54:10 a chance to make an even bigger impact and make make the world of travel better
54:14 and our experiences better and that's what we're that's what we got to try to
54:18 do. Absolutely. Greg thank you, Annie, thank you both for giving us this opportunity.
54:25 Yes thank you so much I wish it was in person but soon again and hang in there
54:30 and yeah I'm traveling and I'm traveling a lot domestically and really anxious to
54:36 come see all of and I'm anxious to start the international travel anxious to see
54:40 you all. Take care. Thank you. Bye. Thank you everybody. Bye bye. Oh my email is Annie@afar.com
54:49 sorry if you email me I can connect you with the panelists. Okay. Bye. Bye.
54:57 you
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