Tours Japan while offer new experiences for international
travellers. He believes that once Covid-19 is over
the travelling public will be more than ever motivated
to “explore the world, so we will be able to expand our
business.”
Harada suggests that the businesses that come through
the turmoil will be even stronger and offer customers
much more than before. It’s not a strange concept as
similar things were planned and put into action during
the Great Depression of the 1930’s.
Downturns, recessions, are cyclical, and even inevitable,
a well prepared business will always have a contingency
plan to deal with such occurrences and while
the Covid-19 pandemic is the worst downturn in living
history, perhaps of all time, we shouldn’t assume that it
is a once off and will never happen again. The world has
seen four pandemics over the past century and many
more economic downturns; five in the past fifty years
alone.
The WHO are currently dealing with eight disease
outbreaks across 12 nations, some like Ebola and MERS
are regarded as having a far greater mortality rate than
Covid-19, however, are less infectious and are generally
considered to be contained.
Pandemic, conflict, disaster, civil unrest all has an
impact on business and travel at a local, regional, and
international level. It’s how a business is prepared that
will see it survive, many will do it tough, some will fall by
the wayside, others will thrive. It’s how we, the travelling
rider, support these businesses that will see them come
through.
If you have a tour booked, and don’t need the deposit
returned immediately, let the operator keep it in trust
for a future ride when things start to return to a level of
normality. Work with the operator, open a dialogue to
discuss options and prepare to plan for a future adventure.
“Firstly, decide where you'd like to go,” says Viv Canini,
Australian Director of Motorcycle Expeditions. “Even
if you don't know, create a short list of operators and/or
agents that run various adventures and compare everything.”
Anh agrees, “Life will not make sense if you don’t have
faith in the future so, if you have a dream tour go for
it and start the booking now.” You might get huge discounts
he adds.
“My advice to anyone thinking about booking any
travel in the future is not to wait,” says Jackson. “Too
often we procrastinate, can’t make a decision or use any
excuse to put off taking that incredible journey that we
have been dreaming about.
“Stop worrying, stop waiting and commit or it will
remain just that, a dream,” he adds that how a company
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