As the COVID-19 pandemic hits all forms of travel equally hard, the tourism industry is undoubtedly one of the hardest hit as well. Bervyn chats up with Kevin Cheong (DBA 2019), a successful hospitality professional, about the need for a quick turnaround to keep the business going.
He shares his 20+ years of experience in the field, the key shifts due to the pandemic, and his thoughts of the tourism outlook in Asia.
ABOUT YOU
Bervyn: Tell us a little more about yourself, your journey thus far in your career, and how you have arrived at where you are now with Syntegrate and Sentosa 4D Adventureland.
Kevin: I started in the tourism business over 20 years ago at Singapore Discovery Centre and later joined Sentosa Development Corporation in 2001. At the end of 2006, I left Sentosa to start a tourism consultancy, Syntegrate. At the same time, I joined the board of Sentosa 4D Adventureland. I’ve been a tourism development consultant for about 15 years – developing, reconfiguring and managing visitor attractions, resort destinations and tourism businesses in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Japan, India, Maldives, New Zealand, Russia…
Bervyn: I understand you are an avid golfer with a single-digit handicap. How has sport, or golf in particular, framed who you are and how you approach situations such as our present time?
Kevin: Single handicapper? That was 30kg ago! Golf is an interesting game of imperfection! While we may have an objective or goal to hit a certain score, the only thing we are in control of is the step or stroke you are about to make. Similarly with all business endeavours, we can plan as much as we wish, but we need to ensure the step ahead of us is aligned, calibrated and executed with the best of our abilities and resources. However just like the 14 clubs in our golf bags, we have a range of arsenal, tools and resources to approach every step. The decision is still ours to make. Every execution leads to a new adventure!
ABOUT YOUR TIME AT SMU
Bervyn: What led you to do your DBA with SMU, and how did the programme bridge the years of experience you already had with the theory that was espoused?
Kevin: There were several factors that motivated me to embark on the DBA journey. Firstly, my sister. She got her PhD in clinical psychology as an adult learner and yes, we have always been very competitive! I was looking for a programme where it will add value to my experience and vice versa – the SMU DBA fit the bill perfectly! The programme also helped me to crystalise my thoughts, distill my experience and gave me the tools to put these in a form that may benefit others.
Bervyn: Tell us about your research focus on the behavioural economics in tourism policy and strategy. What were some of the key insights of your research?
Kevin: My research started with a simple question: Happy workers are good workers, however do happy workers result in happy customers? From this basis, my research focused on how organisational structures of tourism organisations and qualitative motivators affected both employee and guest satisfaction. 2 key findings can be distilled: organising by clusters of guest touchpoints (rather than functional silos) and empowerment have a positive impact of employee and guest satisfaction. As a result, we now have empirical evidence to support what seems intuitive. While we focus on the quantitative aspects of productivity, we, as managers and leaders, need to put some effort into the qualitative drivers too.
Bervyn: What are one or two things that you remember best about your time on the DBA programme at SMU?
Kevin: Allow me to quote Associate Professor Reddi Kotha, something he said in one of my classes, “Be bold, be brave and be beautiful” – even if you are wrong, be gloriously wrong! What’s the downside of being wrong? Yes, we might ‘loose face’, but at least we found out something new!
In many things we do, our fear of rejection and failure stops us from even trying! And even if we actually get started, our fears and inhibition take over and mute our efforts and energy. Sometimes, we spend more time talking ourselves out of doing something, than directing our energies and resources to making it work. We are in this state of COVID limbo where there is no way of going back, staying still is a mindless wait… so why are we not trying new things, new ways of doing things and just trying? But with whatever we are trying, be courageous, put your best foot forward and make it count! Sounds like making each stroke in a golf game, doesn’t it?
Secondly, the lonely journey of research and writing out our dissertations has forged new friendships with both SMU faculty and course-mates. Lastly, the more I research and read, the more I discover there’s so much I do not know!
YOUR VIEWS ON THE PRESENT TIME AND ITS IMPACT ON THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
Bervyn: There is no doubt that the tourism industry has taken a huge hit with the COVID-19 pandemic. What, in your opinion, would be the key shifts that individuals, organisations, and the tourism/hospitality industry would need to make to emerge stronger?
Kevin: Fear and pain are probably some of the most primal motivators. The levels of uncertainty and vulnerability grow as COVID-19 mutates and evolves. We are inclined to be complacent and to revert to pre-COVID-19 behaviours. I hope we all realise by now that the new norm will be the norm. These have opened up new opportunities for tourism businesses – contactless touchpoints, developing more elastic workforce and going online. We must explore the digital space beyond digital marketing and social media.
I believe in creating a parallel digital experience that has its own life and business model, augmenting and complementing the physical world. The same consumer who visits us in the physical location has very different psychographic wants and behaviour online or in the digital world. We must identify the difference and design appropriate strategies to deliver these differences.
At the same time, we should harness digital tools to develop “yearn” – the yearn to visit, the yearn to share and discover… then when the travel borders reopen and we can travel safely, Singapore will be the top-of-mind for travellers. Why? Every destination will be shouting at the top of their voices to get attention and market share. Only the ones closest to the hearts and minds will have the first bite of the cherry!
Bervyn: What, in your opinion, would the future of the tourism/travel industry look like in a post-COVID-19 world? How can Singapore emerge and thrive in this future?
Kevin: Travel experiences will be become more personal, more exclusive and more intimate. We will likely travel to places more secluded, more nature-based and with more outdoor spaces, and we will want to travel with people we know and are familiar with. We are also more likely to indulge, immerse and engage in exclusive and differentiated experiences. It is not just about pent up demand, it is also about the fear of not having the opportunity to travel again.
Singapore’s tourism has evolved from: “me too” where we brought in what other destinations had; then to “me only” where we tried to be unique and different. I believe the future of destinations will be about “this is me” – authenticity, original and distinct leveraging on and manifesting the land’s people, cultural, historic, heritage and natural assets. These are the things that are sustainable, true to the land and cannot be easily copied or replicated.
We must celebrate what we have, who we are and what we stand for. We take ourselves, our land and our people for granted – that’s why we travel to other places. Shouldn’t this be why tourists want to visit us?
Bervyn: What can institutions like SMU do to either prepare individuals for such disruptions, or to provide solutions or assistance? How can SMU alumni contribute or support?
Kevin: SMU is situated at the intercross of Singapore – geographically, historically and culturally. It joins Orchard Road with Shenton Way, Chinatown and Kampong Glam, borders the Singapore River godowns of yesteryears… This should be the reminder of what this place stands for: bringing people, businesses and ideas together, focused on the future and forging a better tomorrow, while staying culturally relevant and true to ourselves. SMU should leverage on IT to bring our culturally and geographically diverse alumni and students together to ideate and chart the future – creating platforms to huddle and spar mentally and intellectually.
FINALLY...
Bervyn: If there were some words of wisdom or advice that the older Kevin Cheong could give to his younger self, what would these words be?
Kevin: I live by Zig Ziglar’s 10 little words: if it is to be, it is up to me. Stop seeking the perfect way, start the journey and you’ll be on the way to perfection! Take charge of your own future.
Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.