Today, it's Sylvain Recouras, founder of Nomadays and director of the local agency in Mongolia Horseback Mongolia, who speaks out. Doubly involved and impacted by this crisis, he bears witness to the current situation within his structures and teams in Mongolia and elsewhere.
The situation at the heart of the Horseback Mongolia agency
"At the level of the local agency HORSEBACK MONGOLIA, our biggest fear is having a blank summer season."
"Mongolia has a short tourist season, from May to September, with 60% of clients visiting the country in 40 days, from around July 10 to August 15. Our busiest booking period runs from February to May. February has already been particularly poor in terms of bookings, with the country suffering from its geographical proximity to China, and we haven't had any bookings since February 24.
The lack of visibility on the period when bookings can resume is the most difficult to manage. We're hoping – but with diminishing conviction – that the crisis will end around May, with a gradual reopening of borders, and thus get a surge in bookings in May-June-July, to ensure at least a small season… and cover our fixed costs.
If the situation lasts longer, we'll have to wait until summer 2021 to welcome travelers again, and that will feel very long, with charges still present. There is no partial unemployment in Mongolia, and we can't separate from our team that we've been working with for years. They trust us, and we have a responsibility towards them.
But the Horseback team is united and everyone accepted, for the months of March, April and May, part-time work that we pay them at 60% of their usual salary. The Mongolian government has also just exempted companies from employer contributions from April 1 to September 30.
Furthermore, our agency remains a sound management model, with movable assets, positive cash flow and no debt. If the present is stressful, we remain confident about the future.
Regarding cancellations and postponements, our clients contract their trip with our agency in France, Nomadays, and we apply the rules of the new ordinance: a credit for amounts paid valid for 18 months. Few people are currently affected by this scheme because we have few trips planned in spring. However, travelers due to arrive in June are beginning to worry. For now, we still advise them to wait, hoping that activity resumes at that time."
The situation at the heart of the Nomadays team
"The rules of partial unemployment don't apply to Nomadays, and here again we see great solidarity within the team."
"Regarding Nomadays, while we've been working on this project since 2013, it remains a business creation in France. We were eagerly awaiting its launch, which took place in August 2019 with obtaining the Atout France license.
For now, bad timing…, but we remain optimistic. Our structure remains lean because we all work remotely, with freelance collaborators or self-employed workers. Many are based abroad, so again, the rules of partial unemployment don't apply to Nomadays, and here again we see great solidarity within the team: all have accepted salary reductions, associated or not with a reduction in their workload.
The structure is sound, self-financed, and debt-free. We're considering a bank loan so we don't have to destabilize our current organization, or even the sale of certain personal assets to be able to continue progressing. The idea remains to move forward and rely on the growing need for reassurance among travelers but also among B2B partners to justify our positioning, which is making increasingly more sense today: a collective of local agencies offering their clients – direct and travel agencies – the same guarantees as a traditional tour operator, with additional expertise.
This crisis is complicated for us, but is ultimately just another obstacle on our road. After 15 years spent in Mongolia, I've learned resilience and flexibility. We must adapt, while benefiting from a valuable crisis management learning experience. We'll only come out of it stronger…"
