JAKARTA, 19 August 2020: Panorama Destination a public listed Indonesian tour operator weathers the Covid-19 storm, although it is undergoing a partial shutdown of operations the company confirmed to the stock exchange last week.
In an announcement to the Indonesia Stock Exchange in response to queries on its operating conditions and financial performance, the company confirmed a downtime and operational restrictions of “one to three months.”
The Indonesia Stock Exchange fielded questions to Panorama Destination (Panorama Sentrawisata) on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the group’s tourism business.
It responded: “With the existence of border closure policies, travel restrictions, and lockdown policies in various countries as well as restrictions on the outflow and entry of Indonesia and large-scale social restriction policies to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, of course, it had a profound impact on the operations of the tourism industry sector (not only in Indonesia but also throughout the world).
“Our business segments, namely Travel & Leisure, Inbound, MICE, and other tourism support businesses are currently experiencing operational cessation/restrictions in order to support government policies so that we can be immediately free from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Operational restrictions cut 2020 sales revenue by 51 to 75% when compared with last year. Cost-cutting measures reduced salaries of 1266 staff out of a workforce of 1654. No staff have been laid off.
In the questionnaire replies to the stock exchange, the company estimated a 75% change in the consolidated net profit (loss) in 2020 when compared with 2019
Outlining its strategy, Panorama Sentrawisata that has been listed since 2001 said it would maintain business continuity by “communicating to internal parties about the company’s business conditions. It will build employee solidarity in the face of the Covid-19 situation while cutting office costs and giving employees unpaid leave or encouraging them to work from home.”
Panorama Sentrawisata traded 18 August at UNR85 compared with INR252 on 18 February. The company has offices in major cities in Southeast Asia, including Bangkok.
The same dire storyline emerges across Southeast Asia. However, most of the travel firms impacted are not listed on national stock exchanges and are therefore not obliged to share business or financial information.
However, social media chatter suggests major privately owned travel firms in the region are cutting staff by around 50%, reducing salaries and seeking low-interest loans to see them through the year.
