In the 42nd ‘Adapt & Survive’ video interview filmed by TRBusiness since the series was launched in March, Olivier Jager, CEO, Forwardkeys tells Charlotte Turner how agility has served the company well in recent months, as it has launched new products to better answer the demands of its customers.

“Entrepreneurs [like myself] always have to be a little worried…They also know that crises in general are moments when changes occur,” says Jager. “At those times, you have to be on top of things; you have to be closer to your customer and you have to listen to what the market is saying. You have to adapt your products to the new situation and this is basically what we have been doing with speed, with ambition and with enthusiasm.

“As I said, I know that crisis is the time when you’ve got to make an extra effort to reinvent yourself. I think a lot of brands that [we work with] are very dynamic and I think they give us lessons in how to react and adjust to market conditions in a matter of days. Me and my team here are doing our best to try to match that pace.”

As Jager highlights, the data and analysis firm has launched new tools for its customers during the pandemic, giving them access to more relevant information in a timely manner.

“For example, it was essential that we would need to be in a situation to monitor any bubbles of rebound…everyone is looking to those regions where business can revive [quickest and earliest].”

Forwardkeys has recently released data on the recovery of domestic travel and tourism in China, which appears to be a bright spot for travel retail recovery too. It is no wonder then that the China market has become very important for a lot of its client base. “So we’ve enhanced the quality of our domestic data for travel in China,” adds Jager. “We’ve also been able to develop products which track the spend, so again our customers can understand the new shopping behaviour and where the market is picking up again.”

Watch the full video to learn more about Jager’s perspective on international traffic recovery and how difficult it is to predict at this time; how he believes governments have dealt with the crisis thus far; the need for greater harmonisation between airports across the world and how quarantine measures and travel bans/restrictions are not always necessary.