Source: Skift

Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali talks candidly with travel industry leaders about facing challenges and creating new opportunities in this new one-on-one interview series. As travel grapples with, and recovers from, the coronavirus crisis, Ali explores with executives how to lead a comeback, what lessons the past teaches us, and what are the smartest paths forward. These frank conversations are meant to inspire and to impart best practices for businesses in travel and beyond.

I started thinking about this interview series for Skift as a way to give a bigger historical and geopolitical perspective on the crisis in the global travel industry due to coronavirus and a potential economic downturn coming. One of the first people I thought to speak with, and who understood the new Asia and what it means to the world, was Parag Khanna, author and geopolitical scientist who has written extensively — including articles and multiple books — on the changing centricity of the world. Coronavirus and many previous global virus outbreaks have come through Asia, and he understands what that means in a very interconnected world, and what that means to travel.

I called him up this week on WhatsApp, and we chatted through the 13-hour time difference between me in New York City and Khanna in Singapore, a fascinating interview as you will read below.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Read the full article at skift Inc.