Travel and tourism is the lifeline for many countries around the world. This industry alone accounts for more than 10 percent of the global GDP and 320 million jobs around the world. More importantly, for many countries, the majority of the economy is supported by the tourism industry.

This travel and tourism industry directly supports many small businesses, shops, stores, restaurants, and with it, many families. Tourists coming into these countries shop here, which is the bread and butter for these small business owners.

But things took a turn for the worse when COVID reared its ugly head.

It is widely known and understood that the economy around the world came to a grinding halt. But one of the industries that were hit the worst by the pandemic was travel and tourism. As this industry took a hit, so did the small to medium business owners selling several products and services for the tourists. Let us take a look at what the statistics have to say on the subject.

Effects of Covid 19 on Tourism and Small Businesses

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization(UNWTO), the COVID-19 pandemic put 100 million jobs at risk. More importantly, these jobs were based in a number of micro, small, and medium-sized businesses that represented 54 percent of the tourism workforce. That is a scary statistic if we consider the effect this had on the families and everyone associated with that workforce. It is also said that the countries dependent on tourism are most likely to feel the side-effects of the pandemic crisis for much longer than other economies.

In simple words, and as the statistics indicate, the travel and tourism industry at its core are those small businesses. Whenever this industry is affected negatively, they are the ones most at risk. More than ever, it has become important to devise a way to bring these businesses back to a sustainable threshold and provide them much needed access to the global markets. But how is that possible with COVID still around?

Innovating the Way Tourism Works

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. This statement rings true now more than ever. There is a need to break off the old ways of doing business and come up with creative, out-of-the-box, and practical ideas that could bring the businesses supporting the tourism industry back to life. And there is one idea that seems to be working quite well.

Sellers around the world can now gain access to global markets and customers even when tourism is at a halt. Whether they are small shops or medium-sized stores, they can now sell their products directly to customers no matter where they are in the world, and no, this model is not like Amazon.

This business model is specifically designed with the tourism-related small businesses in mind.

How often do people travel to a country and fall in love with a local product, a native handicraft, or something that they can not find back in their own country? They go back home wondering when they’ll come back to buy something like that again.

Not only that, tourists can not shop a lot because they have to keep the luggage considerations in mind. Even if there is more potential for buying, it doesn’t happen. This means that those businesses don’t make that potential profit they could have if the luggage was not an issue.

With Pigeepost, tourists can now buy their favourite Talavera pottery from Mexico or Javanese batik from Indonesia, no matter where they are in the world. It also solves the luggage problem as they do not need to travel to those countries to buy those things. This app connects sellers with tourists and buyers worldwide and multiplies the potential of selling to up to 10 times.

Not only that, Pigeepost handles all the shipping costs involved in the process, making it even more attractive for people to adorn their homes and lives with these local and native products from all around the world. And it is not just the businesses that this app is created for. This app is available in all countries of the world, making it possible for people to buy from anywhere they can think of easily and without any hassle.

This can provide a much-needed stimulus to the micro, small, and medium-sized businesses connected to the tourism industry. Moreover, as more people use this app, its implications can be beneficial for the world as a whole, as it has the potential of sustaining the tourism industry while the COVID is still over our heads. If the tourism industry gets back on its feet during this time, so will the countries that rely heavily on it.