TOURISM MEANS

Tourism has been my job and survival for the last 30 years. This is my way of life. (July, 2020)

Tourism employee

Slovenia

CHALLENGES

We lost about one month of our most busy season, thats a huge lost of money. For a small and pretty new business there is no savings, we did a big investment last summer and then we really needed the season to go on as planned. Our biggest challenge right now is to survive. In this strange situation we don´t know anything, will there be a summer season with tourists? How will the next winter be? How are we gonna plan? Do we need to sell away a lot of eqipment to lower our costs and then maybe don´t have enough capacity for next winter? To not know when this will end is the worst part. (April, 2020)

Tourism business representative

Sweden

CONCERNS

I am a bit concerned about the aviation industry. I believe there is a chance that low cost airlines, where people are sitting close to each other, will suffer some issues. The low price might not be that strong of a factor in the decision of purchasing an airline ticket anymore. (April, 2020)

Student

Slovenia

IDEAS

This virus has made it very difficult to come up with solutions to this problem when it comes to being a tourist. People don't show symptoms for up to 2 weeks and many people can be asymptomatic. Something I actually heard the other day was that studies are being done that have shown that the spread of the virus is much lower during outdoor events. For example soccer games. I can attest to this because my dad and I went to 2 soccer games during the outbreak and we did not get the virus. So an interesting idea would make public transportation open-air somehow. This would allow people to get around without being stuck inside a vehicle where this virus can run rampant. Outdoor events can also be reopened with maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of the number of people to allow for them to social distance a little while being at this outdoor event. This would allow for tourists to go to places and do some things involved in that culture while slowing the spread of the virus. (April, 2020)

Tourist

United States

I CAN OFFER

Usually local operators have partnerships with other local operators - we stick together and support each other. This is true in the Northwest Territories, Canada. (April, 2020)

Tourism business representative

Canada

I NEED

It would be nice to hear more ideas and support from professors at my institution as well as other institutions that are leaders in hospitality/tourism and/or business in how to react in these times (i.e. Cornell, HBS, Michigan State, etc.). (April, 2020)

Student

United States

SOLUTIONS

Online wine degustations. (April, 2020)

Tourism employee

Slovenia

EXPLOITATION

Travel companies not allowing for partial or full refunds. It is not as if people wanted to cancel their travel and we cannot deter people from traveling in the future by souring their present experiences. (March, 2020)

Student

United States

OTHER / SPOTTED

Home entertainment by the hand of tourism enterprises

This article explains that many tourism enterprises are keeping the contact with their clients, creating activities for kids and adults to help them go through these hard quarantine times. But, why do they do it if it is not their job?

The idea is keep in touch with the clients, even if they are not going to book anything with them right now, to remind clients that they will still be there when the things get stabilized, clients will remember them and start booking again. It is a long view strategy, but I think it is a smart movement from tourism enterprises instead of being just observers of the disaster.

See the original file here: https://www.hosteltur.com/135925_entretenimiento-en-casa-de-la-mano-de-las-empresas-turisticas.html (April, 2020)

Student

Spain