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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.
Above all, we need to think responsibly and take safety precautions when traveling. We need to protect the weakest. (August, 2020)
Tourism provides a mean to discover the world and it's many varied cultures. To enjoy beautiful landscapes, discover new experiences and soak up new cultural experiences. Tourism helps to create a world without prejudice. (May, 2020)
A virtual meeting/webinar is the future trend for the convention/conference business. Event organizers may suffer revenue loss as these days "on-the-spot" meetings are not as popular as they were in the past. (April, 2020)
I’m a bit scared that even after the pandemic some people might find socializing, especially with foreigners, a little off putting. So my main concern is not being able to experience the social life of a city in its full glory, when people aren’t afraid of human contact and getting to know travelers. (April, 2020)
In one of the President's COVID-19 Press Conferences, Trump had thrown around the idea of businesses being able to fully deduct dining and food expenses. I believe this could be an interesting idea to pursue. Currently, dining and food expenses incurred by businesses can be deducted by 50% as long as they meet certain requirements (cannot be overly extravagant, etc.). If this deductible percentage was increased, it could help to jump start the recovery of the hospitality and tourism industry by incentivizing business meals and group business. A similar case can be made for travel expenses.
Of course, there are ethical implications associated with potential to abuse the system which will need to be weighed. I recommend the spending must meet the current deduction requirements or possibly impose a spending ceiling.
Resources:
https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2020/jan/business-meal-expense-deduction-tcja.html
https://markjkohler.com/writing-off-dining-and-food-expenses/ (April, 2020)
www.resilientdestinations.com is gathering resources for a sustainable recovery, and sharing them with whoever wants. (April, 2020)
Senior industry professionals giving guidance to those who are just starting out in this industry during these troubling times. (March, 2020)
Let’s think sustainable, responsible, ecologically and “boutique”. Definition of boutique: authentic experiences in the countryside, connecting local providers, non-mass tourism, uniqueness, local identity, local stories, inclusion of ethno-animation. (August, 2020)
It´s sad that there are so many cheaters who just want to get all the money which is spend by the state to help the little enterprises to survive the crisis, so that those who really need the money, don´t have any chance to work against their problems ... (June, 2020)
Rethinking and Reinventing Travel and Tourism Post Covid-19
This article is related to tourism in Ghana but all the measures can be used in the same areas to boost the tourism industry. The author presents that mainly the domestic and regional tourism should be supported, there should be weider utilization of technologies, digital word etc. There should be smart leadership and cooperation between the tourism organisations and all the segments in the tourism industry. The protection of the environment is important and we should heed sustainability and and support it all. The selected data and analysis will be helpful to get the information and work with them, use them to get the important decisions.
https://voyagesafriq.com/2020/04/10/rethinking-and-reinventing-travel-and-tourism-post-covid-19/ (April, 2020)