It was one of those days again. Gone was the season when venturing outdoors meant basking under the glorious sun. Now, doing that was facing each day fraught with dodging puddles on the streets and averting collisions with other similarly umbrella-d creatures. It was a very wet month and it wouldn’t be far-fetched at all to think of many people constantly mumbling “dismay this May” as they ploughed through their unmerry way.
And then two natural events compelled them into stop thinking of their own discomforts, which suddenly was nothing really to complain about.
Cyclone Nargis hit the southwestern area of Myanmar at the start of the month and, barely two weeks later, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan province in China, claiming lives, injuring more and inflicting damage to properties and the future.
The very human nature of compassion immediately kicked in with humanitarian aids from governments, charitable institutions and private sector pouring in, and being received and very much appreciated where these are welcome.
These natural disasters will continue to impact the destinations’ economies up to certain point.
A natural response for the industry is to urge its members to encourage their respective markets to continue visiting the affected areas.
Going there doesn’t always have to be for the usual tours, incentives or conventions. It could have a more focused purpose. Like voluntourism. There are DMCs which have started incorporating voluntourism as part of their incentives programmes to provide more enriching experiences to the delegates.
The intentions are very good. The delegates have a very hands-on participation in helping a community. The concept is not always received with applause and standing ovation though.
In one forum in Europe, one DMC talked about one of their programmes for their VIP incentives which brought delegates to poor African villages, where they distributed goods and also helped in the actual construction of houses. Reacting to this presentation, someone from the floor asked if this was good at all, when it seemed that all it was doing was to promote dependency.
Is it? Or is it not?
The answer would depend on your gut feel. Do what you feel is right.
