By Paula Newby
The current state of the global economy has been described as ‘low touch’, as businesses incorporate required social distancing into their operations.
Meanwhile, the ‘high touch’ sectors such as hospitality and airlines are suffering massive losses, and given that social distancing restrictions are likely to remain for some time, finding new forms of engaging customers will be critical for the survival and success of these susceptible industries.
By exploring new strategies, we offer insight into how creative and adaptive solutions can make the shift from high to low touch.
High Touch industries being affected
Events the world over have been cancelled, wherein China and Hong Kong alone, the cancellation of events between January and April has resulted in a $286 million loss [1]. Attractions and hotels are all suffering, and Disney, with their ever-popular theme parks, has reported a loss of $1.4 billion last quarter – a 91% fall in earnings [2].
Jobs in the tourism industry are haemorrhaging, with the World Economic Forum estimating around 50-million job losses from tourism worldwide [3]. Hotels are also seeing huge drops in revenue, with India expecting around a $1.3 billion loss for 2020 – equating to a drop of 30% in revenue compare to last year