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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.
Hospitality is the most personal human interaction industry. I don't see how the hospitality industry will be able to become virtual like most industry's are becoming due to the coronavirus. That being said, I think the hospitality industry should shift a lot of focus to nature based tourism. This would allow people to practice social distancing and enjoy beautiful places in nature at the same time. An idea would be to establish an open air outdoor hotel in close to great hiking spots, where the hotel would serve as a base camp. This way tourists can go hiking all day then comeback and enjoy the services usually provided by a hotel, while still enjoying being outside in the fresh air. (April, 2020)
The thing about travel that leaves the biggest impression on me is definitely just the general vibe/feel you get from a place, not necessarily the main tourist attractions, museums, etc...I think that most of the feeling you get from a city is contributed by the locals; their lifestyle and shared values. That’s why meeting new people and getting to know more about their culture and outlook on life is the thing I’m most excited for when traveling. (April, 2020)
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)
When it would be able to travel; the flight prices during/after the pandemic; would hotels be safe to stay; (May, 2020)
Selling "advanced travel packages" is what I've been thinking about, it may sounds naive that this could work from my point of view, but trying something different is always better than doing nothing. In many countries, not like the U.S, people don't arrange their travel plan by themselves, they tend to work with professional travel agent in order to save money or at least save time. From my personal experience, in many of the cases, agents only asked customers to pay one time fee that includes flights, tickets and sometime even food and beverage which is sounded like they are selling a packages. Thus, when the coronavirus is strongly affect people's travel plan at this moment, selling them any types of "advanced travel packages" that will be activated after the coronavirus is my idea, I do think the most important thing for tourism business to be survived now is keep the cash flow going as normal. It is okay to lose some revenue or giving bigger discount on those "advanced travel packages" but having more business keep coming, is very important. (April, 2020)
humor (April, 2020)
We need customers, interesting local providers, accommodations that will meet safety standards. (July, 2020)
Review how a fine dining restaurant rely on their sense of quality and care to give confidence e.g. Aimsir 2 Michelan Star Restaurant www.aimsir.ie (May, 2020)
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)
#Coronavirus – How is the Industry reacting?
This article presents how tourism companies react to the coronavirus. Some companies use technologies to recover from the crisis. Many countries are offering the potential travelers to visit some tourism destinations and attractions via virtual reality. For example Japan, Brasil, Malta, Berlin, Montreal, Israel, Portland, Philadelphia, #greecefromhome, #austrianhomestories etc.
https://www.thinkdigital.travel/opinion/coronavirus-how-is-the-industry-reacting/ (April, 2020)