Summary

Perhaps the sector most significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis was travel & transport. The pandemic and resulting lockdowns worldwide brought a previously booming sector to its knees – seemingly overnight.

For the hotels & recreation industry, the negative effects of the crisis have been unavoidable. However, many in the industry were quick to adapt services, such as increasing hygiene levels and compliance with health & safety regulations to reassure customers. The significant drop in hotel bookings has also been partially offset by the purchase of attractive post-pandemic packages, such as discounted workcation deals and technology-enhanced weddings.

Tourism services, including travel agencies and online booking platforms, also faced challenges that forced them to adapt rapidly. These platforms have begun offering benefits such as flexible reservation and cancellation policies and free or discounted health insurance add-ons to entice customers.

While the freight & logistics management industry faced an initial slowdown due to cross-border travel limitations, these businesses experienced relative stability owing to the increase in e-commerce purchasing worldwide.

Without a doubt, the medium-to-long term outlook for travel & transport remains unclear. Despite this, firms across the travel and tourism industry are preparing to innovate the travel experience and scale operations ahead of an expected rise in travel demand over the coming months.

How we add value

For over 30 years, Cedar consultants have developed and implemented breakthrough strategies for global travel & transport companies – including with one of the world's leading travel operators. Partner with us to assess and prepare your organization for success in the post-pandemic travel space.

  • Higher volumes of data on travel preferences and experiences are now available due to the rise in online booking experiences. We have developed a comprehensive toolbox of proprietary technology designed to help you mine the data you need to drive innovation in your travel demand management plan.
  • Industry-wide deal activity has been on the rise, particularly in key markets such as the US, UK, and China. Our extensive work across due diligence, M&A, and post-merger integration activities places us well to help you navigate corporate finance in a new environment.
  • Digitalization is now a key element of every forward-looking strategy in the travel industry. Cedar consultants harness their deep experience and expertise in digital strategy formulation to equip you with the actionable digital roadmap you need to succeed.
  • Staying abreast of country-specific COVID-19 travel laws and restrictions can be a challenging process to undertake. Cedar brings decades of experience in entry strategy in complex geographies to help research and build a plan tailored to your needs.
  • Offsetting the losses incurred by COVID-19 disruption will require thorough cost-optimization processes. We can implement our best-in-class operations programs to help you innovate existing processes to reduce costs and improve productivity.
  • Preparing existing and new staff for the ‘new normal’ has increased focus on training programs, particularly those centered on health and hygiene. As a thought leader in human capital management, Cedar is a partner of choice for hospitality workforce transformation.
Read more

Client Cases

Talk to our Consulting leaders about how we can add value
Contact us to make strategy & innovation work for you