Webinar-2.0 & webinar 3.0-The problem-solving series

Understanding the current situation, and what a recovery might look like, TIN Media came up with “The problem-solving series” to help the industry prepare for the best even under critical circumstances. The TIN Media webinar on “Reinvent your business through domestic tourism- The Digital Way” was held in 2 parts on 30th April and 7th May successively and was organized by TIN Media. 

The distinguished panelist for webinar 2.0 were Noredah Othman- General Manager- Sabah Tourism Board, Allen Tan- Managing Director-The Habitat, Penang Hill, and Wind Tan- Digital Strategist and webinar 3.0 the panelist were Uzaidi Udanis-President-MITA, Dr.Nicco Tan, Vice President(Marketing) Genting Malaysia Berhad and the entire webinar was moderated by Presanth Chandra, Co-founder of TIN Media.

Both the webinar engaged over 10,000 views in all the digital platforms of TIN Media amongst the tourism industry professionals, globally. 

The idea for executing an extensive problem-solving webinar was to get everyone’s point of view on the given topic and draw a conclusion. It was conducted to educate & help the tourism industry on reinventing their business through domestic tourism, digitally especially during the pandemic outbreak when everything is uncertain and most importantly, the tourism sector.

The takeaway from the webinar was important to be highlighted as the panel members shared deep insight on various touchpoints related to the tourism industry which can give a great read for travel professionals and enthusiasts.

Undoubtedly, Travel Industry has the hardest hit during coronavirus pandemic, and due to the outbreak, a lot of cancellation have been done which are still going to date eventually hampering a lot in the tourism business. The best part to handle the given situation is to manage the expenditure as well as look at places where you can generate revenue. It is important to explore domestic tourism- the digital way.

Noredah Othman- General Manager- Sabah Tourism Board, “we have to adapt the new challenges and be excited about what’s next as there’s always a silver lining and we can think of new ways without limiting ourselves”. Domestic tourism is certainly the need of the hour and taking the stride digitally will make this happen, for good. She added “ After MCO, people will opt to travel domestic first before going international which will help the local tourism industry grow. Now the right thing to do is to opt for domestic tourism.” Noredah added “Sabah will continue to promote nature-based tourism and push it alongside community tourism after MCO. As social distancing will be the new norm, doing CSR programme will be beneficial.”

 Allen Tan had quite an extensive view ongoing digital. He suggested doing whatever it takes to survive. He said “Always have hope and faith, there’s a way as a lot of recovery options are available. Go digital, think out of the box, and reinvent your business.”

He also added, “The Penang hill is having a virtual tour and receiving overwhelming response from participants, and going forward the habitat will be taking more tours in the future.” He said the opportunity for domestic tourism is tremendous as after MCO people shall travel within the country as Malaysia is diverse and a lot of focus will be shifted gradually. Allen quoted “Challenging yourself in the new environment is important, at this moment either adapt or perish and we’ll definitely adapt new changes”. 

On encouraging domestic tourism via digital means Dr Nicco Tan said“ Digital is useful and talking about social media, all the segments have advertising platforms and eventually when you engage digitally and connect the traffic into your channel, a lot of things get solved. The beauty of digital marketing is all about targeting and that’s how we can tap in the target audience and shift into domestic tourism.” He added, “ Start first with the customers whom you want to target and use digital channels to reach them.”

In order to venture into domestic tourism, Uzaidi Udanis-President-MITA insisted to go towards domestic tourism and said “ We need to take advantage of the pandemic and drive ourselves to domestic tourism for a win-win situation. For the last 2 years, domestic tourists rose up to 11 percent and we have to keep this going and encourage to give a mind-shift and focus on domestic tourism.”

The presence of Wind Tan (Digital Strategist ) in the panel made it a good learning experience for the attendees. As he shared a lot of important analytical benefits on going digital -citing how businesses can make well use of the digital world. Wind Tan said it’s definitely a must to go online now to promote and create more content irrespective of the business. On talking about the tools that businesses can use is social media as it is the place where people hang out at this moment. He said “Irrespective of B2B or B2C segment, the social media tool always comes in handy. Facebook is a great platform to display and promoting products in the groups where your customers might be in is a great option.” 

Prashant Chandra, Co-founder of TIN Media who was also moderating the entire event, rightly pointed out the 6 reasons to go domestic. Highlighting his words, he said “Firstly, due to the accessibility (as domestic tourism will normalise first before international), this is a great time to tap in the domestic market. Secondly, domestic travel will give travelers a sense of safety and security to feel comfortable as they are out and about. Third, confidence in Malaysia’s capability as it is termed as a safe destination to travel.

 The fourth point highlighted by Mr. Chandra, was all the international traffic will be diverted to domestic destinations. Also, all the offbeat location will regain its demand; more than ever and lastly, showcasing the potential of  ASEAN portraying it a regional travel hub.

There is no doubt that 2020 has proved to be the toughest year for the tourism industry. As a result of the hard-hit from COVID-19, the industry is on its knees. Recovery will certainly heal the damages done but shielding the business with the best possible reset can make you disaster-prone. Also, It is nearly impossible to forecast a timeline of the recovery, it’s better to buckle-up on an individual level and do the best for your business to thrive.

For an in-depth insight,you can watch the webinar split in 2 parts through the below mentioned links:

https://www.facebook.com/tindotmedia/videos/2694308967552678/

https://www.facebook.com/tindotmedia/videos/165636361471672/