Latest news:
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.
Currently, it is difficult because there are no tourists. That means no income for our accommodation providers and consequently no tourist tax for us. No one knows how long the quarantine in different countries will last and no one knows how much money we will get throughout this year. (April, 2020)
For me, tourism is the most important thing in life. Without tourism, my family would not have work in our valley and probably they had to move to a bigger city to find new work. Tourism guarantees us a high standard of living in the most beautiful places on Earth. (June, 2020)
Apart from disrupting tourism activity, it has also disrupted our research activities (i.e. we are conducing bi-annual national survey of visitor motivations, activities, satisfaction and expenditure that was launched just before the C19 lockdown), it has a bearing on our consultancy services with contracts suspended, delayed and tasks redrafted, as well as on slowing down implementation of EU projects. (May, 2020)
Concerning is the lack of information and the pure stupidity of many people. All the critics and people who believe in absurd conspiracy theories are absolutely morons. I cannot even believe how ignorant, selfish and careless people are. Im not saying being careful and not believing everything is stupid, no asking questions and criticizing rules is very important. But having just a little bit of common sense is absolutely necessary. I see a it as a clear failure in our education system and im scared that these people are the generation of tomorrow. In school nobody is interested in the subjects the are taught because :" I don't need biology and physics. I will work somewhere else." Then suddenly 5G causes Covid-19 and Bill Gates poisons everyone with his vaccine wich contains little robots to control everybody. Thats just straight up stupid and nonsense. Also I fear that after the pandemic is over everybody will not have changed a bit and just continue on the same as before. (September, 2020)
Connecting with other providers. It may be time to get to know the "competition" of the destination providers. I think that having a good knowledge of your destination and of competing providers is crucial. Would it not also make sense to join forces with some of them at this time, to set up a cooperative? (April, 2020)
I want to give you free insights, inspiration, information and best practices from which you can learn – to open and take your hostel or other type of accommodation to the next level. https://hostelobserver.com/ (July, 2020)
Some resources I need are some positive statistics about the coronavirus that can help keep people's heads high. (April, 2020)
Educate tourism workers on sustainable tourism and how to be mindful about locals and the environment. (April, 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)
It's been about 30 years since I started this job. I have experienced the collapse of the Internet bubble, the Lehman shock, the Great East Japan Earthquake, and so on. Marketing techniques such as sales measures, cost control, and attracting customers during these times are the know-how of tourism that cannot be learned in normal times. (June, 2020)