COVID-19 Guide for the Adventure Travel Industry

11 March 2020
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Following the UNWTO’s lead, ATTA encourages its community to respond to COVID-19, the virus caused by novel coronavirus, in a measured and consistent way, proportionate to the public health threat and based on local risk assessment, involving every part of the tourism value chain – public bodies, private companies, and tourists. International collaboration and cooperation is needed to ensure the tourism industry, which is so important to the global economy, can rebound and rebuild. Below, we are gathering resources on strategies for adventure travel businesses and destinations to cope with the current situation. Submit your strategies and your questions in the comment section below.  

ATTA Adventure Travel COVID-19  Health and Safety Guidelines

  • Find the Adventure Travel COVID-19 Health and Safety Guidelines in English here
  • Find the Adventure Travel COVID-19 Health and Safety Guidelines in Spanish here

Live Updates

The latest information on travel restrictions, requirements, and reopenings from various travel monitoring websites:

 Adventure Travel Industry FAQs

1. How can I help minimize the impact of the pandemic on my travel business?

  • Consider your cancellation policy carefully and decide whether it will benefit your long-term relationship with your travelers to offer credits or no cancellation penalties to encourage future bookings. Also, consider allowing them to transfer their bookings to others like a gift certificate.
  • Monitor countries on your itineraries to understand if border closures or traveler bans may create problems for your travelers.
  • Offer any support needed regarding hotel, air, and transportation cancellations.
  • Communicate regularly to your clients and guests.
ATTA Resources: 
Other Resources:

Cancellation and Transfer Policy Examples from the Industry:
Strategies for Travel Businesses
Financial assistance for small businesses
Trends and News
Travel and Reopening 

2. Is travel insurance covering cancellations from COVID-19?

Fear of travel is never a covered reason for any type of coverage. In no instances can you get reimbursed for canceling your trip because you’re worried about how the COVID-19 outbreak may impact your travels. Some travel insurance will cover trips impacted by COVID-19 in other ways. See some policies below.

3. What should we say to our clients and travelers?

Don't shy away from this topic with your clients, customers, or followers. Be transparent and communicative, calm, and reasonable. Below are some articles you could share, and we will soon post some sample letters from members of our community. Please feel free to share yours in the comment section below!

Useful Articles on what to say and what not to say

Examples from the Industry:

4. What should destinations and DMOs be doing now?

Strategic Opportunities for Destination Recovery and Resilience from the ATTA:

The ATTA is working with senior advisors to identify strategies that support recovery and resiliency:

  • Short and Long Term Solutions to Support Evolving Strategies 
  • Advising DMO members to research new source markets
  • Working closely with hotel, airlines, and receptive and international tour operators to develop attractive packages to stimulate travel from these source markets and target customers
  • Making incremental investments in marketing these packages now, starting with short-haul and regional markets and then focus on tried and true longer-haul and international markets.
  • First-mover advantage is critical here – destinations that can move fast to switch focus stand the best chance of riding out the crisis.
Useful Articles for Destinations and DMOs
 

5. What can gear brands do?

"Know just one thing - Tourism is Resilient and Rebounds - ALWAYS! If we can afford to weather this storm, we want to be ready for it!"
- Raj Gyawali, SocialTours

 

ATTA members, join the conversation in The HUB.

Submit your questions as well as your answers to the above questions in the comments below. We will continually update and add to this page.

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