{"id":12969,"date":"2021-09-25T11:07:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-25T11:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pulseonline.co\/?page_id=12969"},"modified":"2021-09-29T14:59:22","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T14:59:22","slug":"laurent-looks-ahead-with-hope-and-optimism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/pulseonline.co\/index.php\/laurent-looks-ahead-with-hope-and-optimism\/","title":{"rendered":"Laurent Looks Ahead With Hope and Optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"

We asked some of the CEOs and Heads in our Company to tell us how they and their teams dealt with the long hiatus,\u00a0the the work-from-home situation, the vast changes that took place from March 2020 onwards.\u00a0 The pandemic hit us, but it also unlocked our strength.\u00a0 \u00a0And our executives kept the organisation together, never failing to motivate their teams, and taking care of their staff.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Laurent Kuenzle, CEO Asian Trails Ltd. tells us\u00a0 how they tackled the completely different scenario to keep going.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"LAURENT\"<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all I would like to thank Fairfax and Thomas Cook, and in particular Madhavan Menon, for\u00a0their continued support and assistance throughout these incredible times we are all living through. The key elements to survive a crisis are cash flow preservation, cash injections and cost cuts. We cut our costs like never before, and what was hardest were, of course, the initiatives we took with regard to staff. We became leaner in our organization, but in this drive also made sure that we as the employer would help as many of our staff as possible to survive this crisis, albeit at considerably lower salaries and reduced conditions. This was tough on many who look after their families and siblings, but they will be forever grateful that we kept them on board. Besides cash and the cost to restart the business, staff will be the key element when business returns, and we will be in a pole position to gain market shares, since many of our competitors will neither have the funds nor the staff to restart a quality operation. This will be different from destination to destination depending on local factors and the competitors landscape. It doesn\u2019t mean that our business will grow exponentially right away, because many of our existing clients will have suffered during the crisis, and will produce less passengers than in the past. But it will definitely give us a competitor\u2019s advantage and emphasize what our brand stands for: Reliability, quality, competitive prices, product innovation and technological advancements.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What , in your opinion, are the top three challenges that you faced in the past year?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There were so many challenges, I don\u2019t know where to start, but in a nut shell:<\/span><\/p>\n