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The 2020 pandemic and previous years’ overtourism issues showed us both the benefits, the relevance, and the limits of the tourism, hospitality and leisure industries for society. We cannot foresee the future, but we can listen to challenges and start developing solutions.
So far we have received more than 900 responses in which these questions have been discussed::
In the name of the global tourism family, many thanks to every single one of you for the inspiring feedback. Your replies are summarized in the sections below.
Don't forget to share YOUR insights (for the first time or again, with new observations):
The 10 quotes below are updated every few minutes and elephant word-clouds are recalculated regularly based on your new survey entries. You have to refresh the page or revisit us every so often to see the changed content.
Declining demand, late bookings. Before the virus, we made reservations a few months earlier, but today customers book a holiday just before departure, so it is always difficult to fulfill all customers' wishes. (July, 2020)
As I am tourism researcher and consultant tourism for me is a serious human activity with significant economic, social and environmental impacts (positive and negative) and an agent of change if managed correctly. (May, 2020)
Being a senior in college, the most common challenges I see during this time are students having a lot of trouble in the job search, and are also having difficulties adhering to social distancing orders and wanting to hangout with college friends in small groups. This may seem harmless but can cause huge unintended consequences with spreading the virus. I am also challenged by what my future is going to look like with a lockdown order extending past my original job start date as well as my lease move in date. (April, 2020)
We are concerned that we will face a third wave of infections in the autumn, which could be much larger than the first two. (August, 2020)
COVID-19 is an opportunity to reflect on our value system, and society. What is the most important to us? what are the values and things that we treasure? (June, 2020)
I am trying to help old people from our village to go to store for them and get them what they need or help them order things from online store beacause many of them dont know how to do it. (March, 2020)
I need resources that could help provide guidance for a graduating senior on how to best position themselves in finding a job in an economy going through a recession right now. (April, 2020)
I am from a small town in Virginia/Tennessee and one of my favorite restaurants has impressed the community throughout this pandemic. They are an upscale restaurant offering foods from sushi and stir fry to burgers and tacos. Tuesday nights are half price sushi nights- the community's favorite. While the dining area has been closed, they are still offering their deals on their respective nights. By offering their special on delivery and to-go orders, they received as much business as a normal day. To my benefit, once they were overwhelmed with the number of orders in the afternoon, they honored the deal prices the next day to those they couldn't accommodate on Tuesday. They even offered their Tuesday deal on Sundays, as they saw the huge success of it. They have even began to sell gallons of beer and margaritas, pints and quarts of their soups, etc. Things that they don't normally do. The greatest help to the community has been the restaurants ability to buy things such as toilet paper, paper towels, sugar, flour, etc. in bulk and sell at a breakeven price to customers. These are things that are sold out in grocery stores and are in high demand. They are able to take advantage of their suppliers and help get the community what they need, even without the desire to make a profit off of it. I know that there are many customers and community members that are impressed with the way the restaurant is handling this crisis and are thankful for their efforts! (March, 2020)
The media partly exploit the situation of the pandemic to get attention and generate sales. However, the media is not aware, or perhaps unfortunately they are - even sadder that this hype in the media - can make the population sick. (October, 2020)
Even if everything in tourism sector has stopped for a while that should not mean everything must be completely cancelled. People should promote themselves through social media and share their ideas. They can still connect with others and with that they show that they care and are still trying to come up with something. (March, 2020)