TOURISM MEANS

Tourism service activities a small part of our offer, but are a nice complement to our primary activity (cheesmaking). (May, 2020)

Tourism business representative

Slovenia

CHALLENGES

During my studies I have been constantly working in the tourism industry. While working, I was gaining valuable experiences in a lot of different fields of tourism and in the meantime I was enjoying what I did, I really found a passion in making people feel welcomed and helping them do interesting things on their travels. So the challenge I am facing in this hard situation is not being able to do what I love and I know a lot of people right now who are feeling the same way. (March, 2020)

Student

Slovenia

CONCERNS

I am not concerned about tourism in general. I do however worry about small businesses and tour guides who are already dormant during the winter months and are waiting for the summer season to accumulate their earnings, which likely will not be possible this year. They are in great danger of going out of business, but overall at the macro level, tourism should return to its old path. How long this will take is extremely difficult to predict. A week ago, the WTO predicted a 3 % to 4% drop in global travel, yet today we are already at a 30% drop. Jobs are definitely at risk. What I can say with confidence is that this crisis will bring some changes. There will now be a lot of room for innovation and adaptation of current work processes. I do not think tourism will die, but it will evolve. (April, 2020)

Student

Slovenia

IDEAS

Many beautiful and culturally rich countries aren't given this kind of attention and are completely ignored by tourists. They can be visited safely and offer unique landscapes and experiences. In Djibouti, visitors can dive with Whale Sharks, while in Central African Republic, visitors can experience the African jungle and meet the native tribes who call the region home. Sao Tome & Principe has beaches that rival the popular spots in the Caribbean, while the mountains of Tajikistan are far more breathtaking than the far more popular (and over-visited) Swiss Alps. There should be a collective effort by travel influencers, media, and anyone in the industry to promote these destinations after Covid-19. We need to let the popular Instagram-famous destinations take a break to recover and we can revisit them in the future. (April, 2020)

Tourist

United States

I CAN OFFER

I do not have any resources at the moment, as I do not see adequate resources in this situation to save tourism. (July, 2020)

Tourism employee

Slovenia

I NEED

We need more resources on digital solutions and on solutions for destination development, destination management and consumer behavior. (May, 2020)

Tourism or convention office, event organizer

Norway

SOLUTIONS

Given that the country is closed and that people are scared, I don’t see many solutions, and I don’t have good practice yet. I went back to the time when I founded the company. I make reservations for hotels for the citizens of Slovenia, which received a tourist voucher from the state. At the moment, this is the only way I pay all the costs of the company. (July, 2020)

Tourism employee

Slovenia

EXPLOITATION

https://www.ft.com/content/19d90308-6858-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75 - link to the article written by Yuval Noah Harari that I find curious, as it opens many cotroversial questions and dilemas for the future - as the author states amongst other emphases - a shift from “over the skin” to “under the skin” surveillance, with the use od biometric data. (April, 2020)

Student

Slovenia

OTHER / SPOTTED

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)

Student

Czech Republic