Innovation is reshaping the COVID-19 crisis as the COVID-19 crisisis reshaping innovation. The usual resistance to innovation efforts is gone. Weneed it. We need it fast.

Typical reactions to an economic crisis are efforts to preservecash, reduce costs and search for new revenue sources. We commonly see layoffs,hiring freezes and cuts in any expenses seen as non-crucial such as travel,conferences and training.

Traditionally, particularly in travel companies, theinnovation department falls into the non-crucial category. Innovation would bedeemed for deep cuts, if not complete elimination. No longer.

In fact, todays reality is the complete opposite. We see that arapid response to the crisis and use of technology may equate to survival formost businesses and will likely be essential for smooth recovery.

What is unique about the current crisis? The key differencebetween the COVID-19 crisis and previous ones is that innovation is expected.

In the current crisis, both consumers and providers are welcoming innovationefforts and responding rapidly and are willing to go through learning curves tomake it happen. For businesses, responding proactively is crucial, and in orderto do so they need a well-positioned and well-utilized innovation departmentthat can be a key player in finding rapidly those extremely needed newsolutions.

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So what does it mean to be a well-positioned innovationdepartment? It means an innovation department that is agile - i.e., able toquickly shuffle its priorities and adapt them to the new crisis - and that hasinternational reach to find easily deployable and cost-effective solutions.

Moreover, it has to have credibility in different startupecosystems to bring in the most efficient solutions fast and have the beststartups focus on travel versus other verticals. Companies must be connected tothe core of the solution providers efforts, i.e., be on the top of their listof priorities, working to have the technology fit specific and urgent needs.

The crisis arrived almost as a shock. We witness companies of allsizes and all sectors taking unusual steps to accommodate sudden shifts indemand, manage internal and external interaction and communication andimprovise new delivery methods.

However, even though in many ways we are moreopen to innovation, the sudden, non-planned and time-sensitive nature of thesituation brings additional obstacles.

The global health crisis triggered an enormous financial crisis that not only slowed down economic activity but is leading to a complete change in human behavior in all sectors, including consumers, suppliers, employees, investors and government.

Rom Hendler and Flavia Hendler - InnoVel

Take, for example, the move to home offices. It was not a plannedmove. It happened overnight, thereby exposing customers and corporations tophishing scams, cyber crime and fraud.

According to cybercrime experts, since the beginning of March 2020, in the United States only,there was an increase of 667% in phishing emails. Hackers are looking forquick profits and organizations are not well-equipped to protect themselves.

The home networks may not have the appropriate level of security. Many of thecomputers used are personal, and the home networks make data and informationvulnerable to hacking. We need expert cyber security that can address thesudden change in which most employees work from home and email is the main formof communication.

Hygiene and safety are other issues that operators are facing.Specifically in the service sector, the consumer is part of the productionprocess, so how can operators assure their safety?

Partly, with automation andability to work remotely with less employees which reduces human touch, hencelowering chances of infection as well as reducing costs. Additionally, thereare solutions that simply provide a clean and safe environment, for hotels,airlines or cruise lines.

One can never let a good crisis go wasted. It may sound like a clich,but we must transform challenges into great opportunities. The threat of COVID-19affects decisions in pricing, supply management, security, communication,safety and marketing practices.

So the worlds two-front fight - fighting thespread of the virus and fighting for our economy - includes not only medicaland health technologies, but also solutions in service, optimization, safety,cyber and many other technologies. The globalized response can be much moreeffective and efficient with the right tools.

Under the current scenario, the travel industry can benefit fromtechnologies that are readily available but normally not easily accessible. Thestartup ecosystem in Israel offers key solutions to managing the crisis. InIsrael, there are about 7,000 startups, of which less than 300 are in travel.The remaining ones do not focus on the travel industry - at least not at thisstage.

The reason is not because their products do not fit the travel industrybut the fact that other industries are more lucrative, easier to work with,have bigger players and are more accessible (many have local representation inIsrael).

However, currently, with the threat of COVID-19 and homeconfinement, their ability to get to their target audience and find newcustomers is extremely limited. Therein lies a great opportunity for the travelindustry. If companies proactively reach out to the most promising andcompetitive startups with an interesting use case, we can have a win-winpartnership.

In such scenarios, the travel organization solves an immediateproblem with an essential solution that

On the other side, the startups get a newclient and access to a whole new vertical.

We are at a historical moment. The global health crisis triggeredan enormous financial crisis that not only slowed down economic activity but isleading to a complete change in human behavior in all sectors, includingconsumers, suppliers, employees, investors and government. As a society, we arelonging for solutions, in dire need of reliable knowledge and robustinstitutions.

We are suddenly open for insights from different areas ofknowledge, which can impact our life outlook and our ability to cope, as wellas provide viable ways to fulfill our most mundane tasks.

That mind shift is happeningon a personal level and a community, national and global level, shaping publicpolicies and impacting business strategies. We cannot let this opportunity forchange go to waste.

It is time to act. This is not 2001 or 2008. It is 2020. There isa plethora of easy-to-implement solutions that can help us overcome the currentcrisis. The timing is on our side for catching up with what technology canoffer our industry.

The ones that do this not only will weather thisunprecedented crisis but will also come out stronger and more equipped to dealwith a completely new travel market.

About the author...

Rom Hendler is founder and CEO and Flavia Hendler is director of communications at InnoVel.

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The critical role of innovation in travel during the COVID-19 crisis - PhocusWire