by Anita Mendiratta | Jul 26, 2020
As our world works through the Summer of 2020 in the Northern hemisphere and Southern hemisphere winter sets in, we find ourselves locked into a year focused on COVID19. No longer are we looking to making it through in a matter of months. 2020 is a living case study, we all a part of the lessons and learnings of ‘here & now’.
What lies ahead? ‘2021’ has become a part of our planning – personally, professionally, painfully. Patience is paramount. The longing for long lengths of times with loved ones, without turning away from touch, have many becoming increasingly frustrated. The initial fear of suffering the severe effects of COVID19 has, for many, turned into severe impatience. And this has turned into a false sense of confidence.
“See, it hasn’t touched us yet. It can’t be that serious. And if I get it, I can just get over it….and then I can get on with my life.”
For those who have suffered COVID19, the reality of the illness is not limited to the ‘in the moment’. The risks continue, long, long after test results reveal recovery. At the same time that the world is busy managing the curve, trying to find a cure, we are trying to figure out exactly what we are needing to cure. Enduring and/or reoccurring Corona-cough, headaches, mind-haze, whatever it might be, the risks still exist. Even when the light is visible at the end of the tunnel, one can be certain of walking out to the risk of storm clouds still lingering above.
We also know of spikes and surges, early warning signs of the risks of second and third waves. Before we know it new seasons will be upon us.
Still, the world cannot stop. The quest to protect lives alongside livelihoods has become a delicate calculus for countries across the globe.
As a result, countries are opening up. Local businesses are bringing their people back, bringing in protocol-compliant cleaning teams, communicating that ‘it’s time!’. Cautiously, ever so cautiously, countries are unlocking their borders, welcoming back locals and tourists from next door and the country next door, as a means of rebuilding momentum of the heartbeat of their local economy, and society.
Travel & Tourism, a sector vividly exposed as ‘essential’ in our interconnected, interdependent world as a result of the stability, security, and sense of meaningful purpose & productivity it provides to literally billions worldwide, is now being celebrated. And a part of national re-start strategies.
Why? It is not just about the sector’s impact on global financial health – providing an invaluable 1 in 10 jobs worldwide as we entered into 2020, now facing losses of 1 million jobs per day since COVID19 cut off all global mobility of travellers (and trade). It’s about the sector’s vital ecosystem that keeps people connected, physically and emotionally, to the world and their worlds – an essential part of maintaining strength of mental, social, and environmental health and wellbeing, not just financial.
It’s time to step outside. With social distancing and mask wearing protocols being put in place to keep people safe, people are being permitted to get out, unlocking their minds, hearts and doors after 100+ days. Annnnnndddd breathe…….
As we walk past restaurants, cafes, and shops, seeing and feeling even the slightest buzz of activity is incredibly heart lifting. It’s so good to see that people are getting out again, socialising in a way that allows us to feel that our world can and will indeed come back to life in a next normal way, able to touch one another’s lives again, even if unhuggably.
But something’s not right – some places are visibly dark. It is impossible to not notice. For all of the relief there is the reality. There are those that remain shut. The lights are off. The CLOSED sign remains firmly in place. unless the door opens to allow movers to remove furniture. There is no heartbeat coming from within, Only heartache.
Suddenly one realises the sadness of the scene: whoever the owners / operators / staff, whoever’s livelihoods were dependent on that establishment for income, for investment, for a sense of purpose, productivity and peace, there are some, many, questioning “why us?” – their businesses didn’t make it.
These people, these livelihoods, didn’t make it through. These are casualties of COVID19 that must be recognised alongside the lives suffering from the health trauma of COVID19.
As much as we are confident, feeling more comfortable in this surreal discomfort zone of global COVID19 as a part of our daily lives, we must never stop praying for the lives, and livelihoods, of others. There are people right around the corner, right around the neighbourhood, right next door, who are still struggling and will continue to struggle. The health pandemic is merging rapidly and mercilessly with a financial pandemic. There is no vaccine, medically or financially.
Now is the time for continued prayer, patience, and hope – for ourselves, and for others. Especially those for whom the lights remain off.
We have a long journey to walk – we need to walk it together, keeping our safe distance, but still taking each step together. With each step, we need to look and see if those around us need our help, carrying them forward in thought, in prayer, in action.
Because ultimately one of the longest lasting after-effects of COVID19 will be how we re-think, re-define and re-shape, and re-commit to the world into which we will all re-enter. May it be a world of greater connection, greater compassion, and greater appreciation of being able to reach out and touch the lives, and livelihoods, of others.
In these immediate times of smile-covering masks, social distance markings, e-meetings and limited lifestyle re-makings, may we wave more, dine more, tip more, blessing-count more, believe we can create more.
Our world can be so much more. x
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2020
by Anita Mendiratta | Jun 17, 2020
35,000 feet.
That is where today – 17.06 – is always wished to be spent each year if not able to be with loved ones. Neither are an option this year.
COVID19 has turned the days of 2020 into a long blur – days turning into weeks turning into months turning into a year beyond fiction, beyond explanation, beyond imagination. Through it all, punctuation marks have appeared: question marks, exclamation marks, characters covering up letters for words growled but not to appear in print. And then there are dates in bold text: birthdays.
And so, as this date neared – my birthday – reflection began. Heading to LHR to board a long-haul flight to call in the first moments of the day up at 35k was clearly not going to happen. 17 06 2020 was to be spent in the same place as the past 100+ days of 2020 lockdown. The usual, loved pause of reflection up in the air – anonymous, uncontactable, surrounded by silence, in a bubble of time and space (with bubbles in hand) – was to be a tradition skipped in 2020.
But that did not mean that the pause was to be passed by.
Quite the contrary.
If lockdown of COVID19 has shown us anything it is that time, this time, is vital to making sure that we do not waste the opportunity to stop, centre, see all we have around us, and whisper a word of thanks. Never again (probably, hopefully) will we be asked, demanded, to suspend our daily existence, staying apart, even if it means our livelihoods, economies, communities and future certainties falling apart. Something bigger mattered. COVID19, with its invisibility, and its terrifying ability to take life with evert droplet, mattered more than anything before.
As the world entered lockdown, geography after geography, month after month, together or apart, ready or not, the world stopped. Suddenly coping mechanisms took over – one’s wiring working to make sense of days without routine, without regular access, without a real sense of timing of ‘for how long?’. The ‘new normal’ was in fact a ‘now normal’ until the ‘next normal’ came along. Facts vs fears. Connection vs isolation. COVID19 vs the world.
100+ days on, slooooowwwwly the world is starting to open up, restrictions easing, living the ‘next normal’ getting easier as rules, regulations and routines are more familiar. Comfort in the discomfort zone.
But wait. Not so fast.
As much as we are focusing our fearful yet hopeful hearts and minds on leaving these times behind us, let’s not rush out just yet. Why? Because there will be moments in these times that, unquestionably, we will miss. Moments of stillness, of newness, of awareness, we will miss. And critically, moments for which we must always remain grateful.
For this reason, not wanting to let this birthday pass in a blur, a pause took place to think: from these 100+ COVID19 days, what are my 19 moments/memories/milestones of pure, unedited, undeniable appreciation.
What will I forever remember this time by?
These, without hesitation and filter, are my 19 COVID19 birthday candles:
- Heroes, first and foremost, standing on the front line taking care of what is most important: our health, our safety, our stability
- Health….mine still strong, still safe…and that of family, both family by blood and family by choice
- Satellites, keeping us connected, every second, every day, every conversation, every virtual hug
- AM2AM, every a.m. to p.m.
- My gorgeous AM&A Girls – Jessica & Grace
- My Clients, acronyms so adored across the world, across the alphabet, across an array of challenges and emotions we never thought we would share
- Springtime – its rhythm, its hope, its softness & freshness
- Foxes spotted running through central London, because they can
- Swans, squirrels and other feathery and fluffy sweeties
- Fresh milk and fresh flowers, throughout
- Ideation inspired through crisis, now absolute labours of love: RISE – http://www.rise-weekly.com / & HospitalityTomorrow – https://www.hospitalitytomorrow.com
- Hearing a new calling, working non-stop with no desire to stop
- Her Majesty
- Bubbles! Groups, girlfriends, shared clinks, quiet solo toasts
- Alice in Wonderland
- Amazon / Nike / M&S / F&M – lockdown essentials just one click away
- In-home studio lights / mics / virtual magic!
- SW1W 0AJ
- These 100 days
And a bonus #20: British VOGUE, no question about it. https://www.vogue.co.uk/
For these 19 (+1) am I thankful, deeply, deeply thankful.
Before any more time passes, please take the time to pause. Capture the 19 signatures of this time that a year, 5 years, 10 years from now, you will look back on with a quiet smile.
Do it now, while memories are fresh, hearts are open, before the world reopens….
Good will come from this time. It must.
May we never feel 2020’s purpose was wasted. x
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2020
by Anita Mendiratta | May 31, 2020
Shhhhhh. Listen.
What do you hear? Anything? Anything at all?
That is the sound of COVID19. Breezes. Birds, Distant hum of cars,
Occasionally voices. Occasionally sirens.
Rarely horns.
Sounds of COVID19 are defined more by absence than by presence.
“Can you hear me now?” These five words have become the start to our now daily routine of virtual meetings, virtual summits, virtual sundowners. An acceptable tech-check to ensure that the speaker, visible, is also audible. Prelude to something important about to be said.
Yet remarkably, as our world now passes the 150 day mark of COVID19 shutdown of 2020 with global case count crossing 6 million and lives taken 365,000, there is one voice that has not asked ‘Can you hear me now?’ It is the voice of someone known worldwide, recognised worldwide, respected worldwide….yet not heard worldwide when he had something important to say – 5 yrs ago in a TED Talk – https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_the_next_outbreak_we_re_not_ready . It took 5 years for the world to stop the daily noise of life and listen, really listen, to the message he had to share – the next, greatest threat to our shared world is a pandemic.
Who is he? Bill Gates.
But we didn’t listen….until 5 yrs later.
His global warning became a link shared wildly in early 2020 as our shared world saw this new, wild virus travel, terrifyingly because of its invisibility and merciless nature. COVID19 is known yet not fully understood, it is everywhere yet unable to be seen, it is directly challenging systems and priorities of government, it is redefining words such as essential, leadership, community and responsibility
Speaking recently to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, exploring what exactly is happening in terms of vaccine development, how many avenues are being explored, how many may deem to be successful, and how quickly and thoroughly can this be rolled out, worldwide conversation naturally leads to what did we know? What could we have done? What could the analysis have been in terms of how could we have been better prepared?
It’s an easy conversation to have, understandably because we’re at a much more comfortable place in terms of our own sense of self and sense of security, as surreal as these social distancing and WFH days may be. Now we can look at the world around us and, in our bubbles, form a point of view, to create an opinion and often to judge.
Who is to blame? Who will find a cure? Who has demonstrated leadership? Who has failed? Who is the ‘who’? And what is the responsibility of the WHO?
All of these questions, all of these debates, are examples of what is interesting about Bill Gates. He desires to share, to support, to separate news from noise. He does not demand to be heard.
Not once, not once since the 2015 pandemic TED Talk, not once since China first sounded the alarm around a dangerous wave of illness, not once since a pandemic was declared by the WHO, not once since the map was covered from East to West with confirmations of cases, not once since there has been questions around funding of global support to address this as a global issue, not once has Bill Gates stopped to say: “I told you so“.
Not once has he questioned: “Can you hear me now?”
There is something heroic about this truism, something incredibly classy about his silence when so many would seek recognition for having called it first.
This is especially true as we are seeing people becoming more comfortable in the discomfort zones of COVID19 – being stuck at home, gaining access to internet intelligence, forming opinions, finding platforms for personal positioning, voicing judgment.
These opinions can become incredibly hurtful. And hasty. We may be 150 days into 2020, but we still have many days / weeks / months to go. There may be stirs of activity visible around us new sounds starting to full our streets, there may be hope of when homes can reconnect, hugs hopefully not too far off. But we are not there yet – we are nowhere near the finish line. We still have many frontliners to support. We still have much to learn as we face risks of further spikes as restrictions ease, second waves as social exposure restarts, impact of curves, inroads of vaccine quests. We are a case study being examined in real-time.
The 20-20 hindsight assessments, assumptions and analysis can wait.
This is the greatest opportunity for us as a global community to act as a community, focusing on the solution, not fighting over the problem. This is the call to action for our generation. Why? Because unless we all win, we all lose.
Shhhhh. Keep listening. x
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2020
by Anita Mendiratta | Apr 13, 2020
The warnings were there about the platform possibly not holding.
The warnings were there about the 5000+ registered participants possibly not joining.
The warnings were there about the content not holding interest for 6+hrs.
The warnings were there about the audio dropping.
The warnings were all there. We were ready.
But no one, absolutely no one, warned us about how terrifying the excitement of going ‘live’ would be!!
Since the start of the 21st Century our shared world has been busy turning the noun ‘innovation’ into a verb, into an adjective, into a sign of success, into a badge of honour, into a form of status. However we express it – disruption, ideation, new world creation – all of the terms talk calmly about what it takes to be innovative, to create something that step-changes how we think, how we act, how we live, how we conduct business, how we connect to one another. The possibility of a dramatic shift from the now to the new has been a force of growth for industry, for humanity.
We talk about it calmly. We talk about it in classrooms. We talk about it in textbooks. We debate it. We debate it. We debate it. And then we debate some more. The analysis around innovation life cycles, investment models and human dynamics is plenty – the subject of innovation is not embedded in many an institution.
Yet interestingly, it’s only when one actually dives into it – when an idea emerges that just feels so right, and so right for right now, that the alchemy of innovation takes hold.
It is exactly as French playwrite Victor Hugo once said: “Nothing else in the world…not all the armies…is so powerful as an idea whose time has come.”
Such was the case just a handful of days ago in March 2020, as the world was settling into lock-down country by country, that an idea’s time came.
The working world was grounded. Suddenly no one is going anywhere, and yet we started to find ways to be everywhere. Meetings were zoomed and skyped and logged into. For millions worldwide, working from home became a whole new way of not just working but living. It erased boundaries – geographic, professional, social and emotional. Suddenly we were all sharing each other’s lives. There has been no way to escape what our homes look like, what our lives look like, what our personal styles look like. We are who we are, from wherever in the world we may be connecting.
But all has not been without its ache. Millions sharing this new way of life have also been bonding over shared loss – loss of momentum, loss of motivation, loss of plans to meet somewhere else, sometime soon. Somehow, in the blink of an eye and with the closure of borders, business and meeting stopped, and with that, the advancement of professional bonds, the building of future plans and setting of priorities, and the business of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
But why must it stop, especially when now more than ever people need to come together to find the collective strength to face one of the greatest professional and personal challenges of our lives? To not feel alone?
Why not create a way of staying connected, continuing to learn, continuing to build, continuing to hope? Build the future of our industry? No – it is not credible to begin that process, the spread and impact of COVID19 as a global human crisis, forget industry, is still being understood. We cannot credibly start looking at the solution. We can, however, come together as a community of leaders ready to interrogate the problem, from different geographic, technical, economic, political and personal perspectives.
And so was born less that 4wks ago (at time of writing this piece) through a conversation with Jonathan Worsley (a long-time trusted and respected colleague with whom I have been blessed to work for several years, he giving me the honours on-stage across his global portfolio of events), the idea for the world’s largest ever (over 6hrs), over 6600 participant strong (far beyond estimation), Travel, Tourism and Hospitality virtual conference: https://www.hospitalitytomorrow.com/
As soon as ‘why not?’ was accepted in mind and heart, with trust in partnership implicit, principles of conference design and debate were agreed, platforms were explored, plans were made, PR began, personal networks were contacted, programme slots were filled, and preparation briefings were conducted.
Fast forward three weeks, and the morning finally came when it was time to go ‘live’!
Suddenly one’s lounge becomes a studio,
One’s bathroom a dressing room,
One’s conference link a back-stage pass to a global stage,
One’s heartbeat is a pounding drum!
Prayers to the Tech Gods eclipsed all thoughts as the number of participants online grew wildly, 100, 300, 800, 1200, 1500, 1700, 2000, 2300…on and on the numbers climbed. “please let the platform hold, please let the platform hold…!!
We could hold no longer – it was time!! April 07th, 2020, 10:00am BST. Jonathan was ‘on’, the backstage team watching each and every second pass by with concrete weight. It was a cocktail of thrill and terror, making us all feel like giddy children trying to contain our nervous screams of excitement!!
And so the day began.
Over the course of the following 6 hours were there technology challenges? Of course there were. Were there continued intense prayers that things going wrong would go right? Absolutely. But everyone, every one of the 6000+ people participating backstage, onstage and online across the globe was with us.
We were all in this together.
What was happening was not just a moment of innovation of our global meetings and conference industry, it was a defining moment of our lives. Together.
This was the dimension of innovation, the art of the possible, that, reflecting on the experience now, seems missing from articles, books and analysis on innovation. Why? Maybe because it is just too difficult to put into words. It is an experience that leaves one speechless (and nerve-knotted!)….with only a quiet smile to reveal what had occurred.
What turns an inspired idea into an inspiring innovation? It’s not just about the idea. It‘s about the people who show up because they believe in it, however the ‘it’ is defines, and they don’t want you to be alone in the quest to create what could be a defining moment of awe.
In the case of HospitalityTomorrow, as the conference was rapidly engineered, carefully selected international leaders were called on to join us on the virtual stage not just because of their expertise and the logos on their business cards, but because they were also loved colleagues that we knew we could trust and count on to take this leap of faith with us. Together we would throw ourselves into an ocean of possibility, we would swim together.
And we did! We swam hard, we swam strong, we swam fast, we swam towards a vision that we shared (even if we didn’t know exactly the conditions of the water), somehow confident we would somehow get there together.
That is a critical, unquantifiable, unmeasurable, yet essential part of innovation. That is the of bringing people together who are not just creative intellectually, but are incredibly creative in their power of belief. They show up, they feed confidence, they fuel conviction, and they’re there just in case support is needed should we feel we are drowning in overwhelm.
That is the magic of innovation.
And that, through this COVID19 chapter of our lives, will forever be a critical reminder of the power of crisis.
Scary innovation, innovation that grabs us by the collar and shifts us forward, can, like now, require scary circumstances that push us into the ocean. COVID19 has taken so much from our shared world. Lives, livelihoods, hopes, homes and hugs – nothing is taken for granted.
At the same time COVID19 is giving us the chance, and time, to rethink a new world – one we never would have naturally co-created given the unnatural way we were ‘progressing’. Mother Nature knew our focus was faulty.
Through these defining COVID19 moments in which we will create new ideas, new innovations, new possibilities, as precious are the new bonds of trust and deep appreciation formed by now knowing with whom one can jump into the ocean, confident they will help us find the starfish!
With special appreciation and love to:
- Jonathan Worsley, Chairman & CEO of Bench Events
- Sally Marwaha. Event Director of Bench Events (and our technology Wizard of Oz!)
- Hon. Minister Najib Balala, Minister of Tourism and Wildlife, Govt. of Kenya
- Amr Al Madani, CEO of Royal Commission for AlUla
- Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and CEO of Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)
- Roger Dow, President & CEO, US Travel Association
Ever-grateful, ever-awed. x
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2020
by Anita Mendiratta | Mar 19, 2020
#COVID-19: 2020’s great, global lock-down.
As this invisible, inconceivable threat spreads swiftly and mercilessly across the globe, it has put us all into a completely different state of mind. An unnerved, uncertain, one.
Our shared world is finding itself in a position of never experienced before isolation. It is shutting off its borders. It is grounding our ability to travel and be with loved ones. It is closing down sports and entertainment activity and interaction. It is turning social places into areas of risk. It is turning grocery stores into empty scenes of earlier hysterical buying activity. And it is turning homes into home-offices, home-schools and mini-gyms.
COVID-19 is turning our world upside down and inside out. It is turning our shared world into a brave new world where we must live with something we are not able to see and do not yet understand, for a period of time we are not yet not quite sure about, severely restricting our funds and fun, severely threatening our way of life and lifestyle, alone…even if we are still in contact with others.
Critically, we are finding ourselves unable to turn to loved ones for a hug, for an exhale, for a safe space to escape fears, to find a sign of comfort that all will be ok.
As a result, the health crisis that is COVID-19 is not just a health crisis physically. For millions, worldwide, it is a mental health crisis.
As expressed by the World Health Organisation (WHO):
“Most people affected by emergencies will experience distress (e.g. feelings of anxiety and sadness, hopelessness, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, irritability or anger and/or aches and pains). This is normal and will for most people improve over time. However, the prevalence of common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety is expected to more than double in a humanitarian crisis.”
And this is, by definition, a humanitarian crisis.
THIS IS A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
This is the first time our shared world has actually had to face an invisible threat to our health, our safety, our wellbeing individually and collectively. Our greatest risk can easily be, in our mind’s eye, everywhere.
This is not like terrorism we have sadly become familiar with. This is not like a natural disaster. This is not like an economic crisis where we can see tangible proof of what is happening, and we are able to understand how we can establish some sense of control before we can move on. The event happens, the fall-out is clear, the light is visible even if the tunnel looks long and dark.
COVID-19, the invisible curse that is taking over the world, is forcing millions upon millions to re-evaluate how we are to survive when under threat, not just economically (which is frightening enough), but as human beings, as a global community. The insecurity provoked by COVID-19 has become, in some places, primal. There is no need to go into the stats and analysis around shopping aisle scuffles for products such as rolls of toilet paper, bottles of sanitiser, pasta, bottles of wine, cleaning products – the shopping list is growing longer, supplies are growing thinner – especially, sadly, supplies needed by medical personnel on the frontline, ever day.
At times, seeing the panic and even prejudice rising, a lack of control and a loss of hope leads to a feeling of emotional paralysis. Fear for health – physical, financial and now mental, poses a triple threat to our global community’s ability to move forward when the time comes when we can open our doors, open our offices, and open our arms once more.
We must, therefore, recognise that COVID-19 has unleashed a health crisis that is going to last much longer than the physical crisis. Return to normal life is not just about getting the go-ahead from governments to unlock the lock-downs, getting the economy moving again.
Now, this time, is one of high risk of a mental crisis. We need to embrace it. We need to accept it. And we need to act gently with others, and with ourselves, to manage it.
Our world is going through a profound recalibration. Starting from Asia and now moving to the Americas, we are all seeing vividly that we are all one vulnerable community. No one is immune from the risks that exist from COVID-19. This virus is completely and utterly democratic. It has no prejudice re. geography, economy, culture, colour, religion, and as we are finding in some cases, age. It doesn’t care. It moves freely. It moves invisibly. It moves silently, and it moves swiftly. Our freedoms have been taken: our freedom to move around, our freedom to look someone in the eye, our freedom to shake hands, to hug, to trust. This is a challenge of humanity like no other.
Through social distancing, through home working and schooling, through isolation, through lock-downs, we are realising how dearly we need each other. We need the talk. We need the touch. We need the time together to share, to learn, to laugh, to love, to live a healthy life.
Even once it is deemed safe to open up borders, open stores, open restaurants, open a bottle of wine, it’s going to take time before people feel safe, secure and steady walking into those restaurants, walking into those shops, walking into those bars.
The rate of recovery of momentum of hope, of faith and of confidence is going to be our greatest test – it will define how long it will take for our economy to get back on its feet, and for our society to get back into the light.
This is Mother Nature teaching us a hard lesson, rebooting civilisation to be more civilised. Why did she feel the need to reboot? There are hundreds of answers to that question, but now is not the time.
Now is the time to relook the value we have for our health – our physical health, our financial health, and our mental health.
TRAVEL & TOURISM’S VALUE, AND VALUES, AS A VEHICLE FOR GLOBAL RECOVERY
Interestingly, this is a crisis that has unlocked the value of Travel and Tourism.
With the:
- closing of borders,
- grounding of airlines and cruise ships,
- closure of hotels & resorts, museums, trade shows
- dropping the curtain on entertainment,
- cancellation of events, both business and leisure,
- transfer of meetings to e-meetings, and
- limiting of groups to double-digits in any social space,
the value of Travel & Tourism has been exposed not just at an economic level through the critical value chains that the sector activated across products and services, but also, as importantly, the growing need for Travel & Tourism as a basis for personal health and wellbeing.
The value of the sector is now understood to go far past its impact as an employer (1 in 10 jobs worldwide), as a GDP driver (9% global GDP), as a source of investment attraction, as a SME stimulator, as a basis for national identity and competitiveness. The values of Travel & Tourism are also now shining through: understanding, respect, compassion, protection of culture, community and environment.
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/03/13/recession-coronavirus-explainer-orig.cnn-business
Travel & Tourism will be central to global community having the opportunity to exhale again, to celebrate again, to laugh again, and to heal – to cry, to feel that we have our freedoms back.
As stated by the HE Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General of the UNWTO,:
“The tourism value chain touches upon every part of society. This makes tourism uniquely placed to promote solidarity, collaboration and concrete action across borders in these challenging times and also ideally positioned to once again drive future recovery.”
Until then, and for the moment, we must keep calm, keep simple, keep safe:
- FACTS FIRST: Check sources carefully. Untruths are unhelpful.
- FOLLOW WHO GUIDANCE: https://www.who.int/
- PRACTICE GOOD HYGIENE: Stay home – stay safe.
- SHOW COMPASSION: We are all in this together.
- TRAVEL WISELY: Essential only.
Please see: https://anitamendiratta.com/2020/03/18/covid-19-coronavirus-infographic/
MOTHER NATURE’S LESSONS WILL ULTIMATELY BE UNDERSTOOD
Recognising that when all of our freedoms are taken away, whether we are citizens, migrants, wherever we are in the world, we are all feeling vulnerable. How do we move that spirit forward? How do we take it forward to really find solutions that allow us to genuinely become a sustainable global community.
We are learning the hard way, but we learning the lessons Mother Nature wanted to reveal.
Good can and must come from this, eventually.
- Medical infrastructure will be stronger,
- Community structures will be stronger,
- Appreciation for some of the previously under-appreciated roles – nurses, educators, retail & delivery labourers – will be stronger,
- Family bonds will be stronger,
- Personal care will be stronger,
- Finally, the definition of SUSTAINABILITY is recognised as relating to Economic, Cultural, Social and Spiritual sustainability….not just Environmental,
- Value for Aviation will be restored, flight shaming decreasing as investment in emission-reducing, sustainable aviation innovation increases,
And hopefully, hopefully,
- Our value and protection of our shared world will be stronger.
For the moment, signs of hope – as tiny as they may be – are critical to keep spirits strong. They may be warmer temperatures bringing sunshine and new Spring flowers visible from our windows. They may be new routines of video-chats with loved ones, making connecting more frequent than ever before. They may be simply a text message to say “I’m thinking of you. Stay safe.”
Stay home, stay safe, stay calm.
And as they say here in the UK: KEEP CALM, AND CARRY ON.
We have a whole new world to look forward to, together. x
Copyright: ANITA MENDIRATTA 2020
