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::
How should we IMAGINE tourism now that we have an opportunity to reset the way we do business?
Which CHANGES would you like to see? If any?
What are your CHALLENGES and CONCERNS?
What are your IDEAS and SOLUTIONS to make it through the pandemic AND into a sustainable and innovative future of tourism?
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.
TOURISM MEANS
As tourist: It's a way to learn about new places, people, their costumes, ... and to enjoy new experiences and relax. Bussines: It offers good business opportunities and wide creative space. (April, 2020)
Tourism employee
Slovenia
Explore #TourismFromZero perspectives
Different perspectives on the selected topic: ALL
Tourism business representative
Bosnia Herzegovina
Tourist
Singapore
Tourism business representative
Slovakia
#From Instagram
TOURISM MEANS
Tourism is the industry our business operates in. It encapsulates everything we do. (April, 2020)
Tourism business representative
Canada
CHALLENGES
After COVID-19, we will face challenges in rebuilding trust within our markets that it will be safe to travel again. There might also come other travel trends that do not pay our region the attention. Companies will be economically weaker and might not be able to develop their service and competence, and we might loose the momentum we had where companies were eager to work with sustainability. Many companies might drop prices and stop caring about which clients they get, as long as they get clients. This can be challenging for the general quality level of tourism business in our region. Higher unemployment can lead to emigration from our region, with the result that it will be challenging for the local places to attract new people and for companies to find the right competence. There might be less willingness to contribute to development and marketing of tourism from the public government's side, as they might loose faith in tourism. (May, 2020)
Tourism or convention office, event organizer
Norway
CONCERNS
We will go back to mass or over-tourism. (July, 2020)
Researcher, academic
Cyprus
IDEAS
Maybe we needed this pandemic to get our eyes opened. My generation, we were all born to see the world in rose-colored glasses. Our parents were able to give us everything we needed, we were allowed to go to school, to have enough to eat and to have many other privileges the generation before us did not have. And the only thing we are concerned about, was not seeing our friends or go partying for a month.
(Everything that is said above reveres to people living in my area) (June, 2020)
Student
Austria
I CAN OFFER
Social (online) support! As mentioned previously, providing social interaction through technology and media platforms greatly helps and keeps everyones mind busy while providing social interaction to ease the lockdown induced loneliness. I would also be able to provide the resource of shopping for the elderly in my community, which I have done twice this previous month, in order to allow the elderly to stay home and get safely delivered food and not have to possible expose themselves to the virus. Anything we can do to help everyone struggling to get through this time. (April, 2020)
Student
United States
I NEED
Some resources I may need are contacts and a good platform to build upon if I wanted to put my ideas to practice. I don't know if a preexisting site would be best or something new, so I would need guidance from a lot of people! (April, 2020)
Student
United States
SOLUTIONS
Campaigns with providers through social media, radio... We are contecting providers in the some field (restaurants / sport activities / local food & prodacts) and making separate campaigns. To help them and support them in this period and also to share interesting experiences in our destination and ideas to the time after covid19. We are including sustainability and green solutions. Strengthen on the domestic market. (April, 2020)
Tourism employee
Slovenia
EXPLOITATION
There have been cases I heard of where companies would apply for financial support from the government, even though they where not entitled to get it and had no real need for it. (June, 2020)
Student
Austria
OTHER / SPOTTED
I think that the fact tourism is highly affected is not that big of the problem. Yes it’s true that people won’t travel during the epidemic, but when everything is over, people will travel again, they won’t just stop. Maybe this is a great chance for everybody to see how much we all can do to help restore Earth, not just in tourism, but in the whole industry sector. (March, 2020)
