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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.
Dealing with information overload. Trips abroad. Less salary. Short-time work. Lockdown. Regeneration time after COVID. Competition of the companies for the domestic guests. (June, 2020)
Tourism means a lot to me. Since I am employed in travel agency I would say I make a living from tourism. It is not just a job for me, because I always travel even during my annual leave. (September, 2020)
We lost about one month of our most busy season, thats a huge lost of money. For a small and pretty new business there is no savings, we did a big investment last summer and then we really needed the season to go on as planned. Our biggest challenge right now is to survive. In this strange situation we don´t know anything, will there be a summer season with tourists? How will the next winter be? How are we gonna plan? Do we need to sell away a lot of eqipment to lower our costs and then maybe don´t have enough capacity for next winter? To not know when this will end is the worst part. (April, 2020)
After the crisis, people's attitudes towards attending events may change. What are they looking for in the future in the aspect of virtual meeting? (April, 2020)
Hotel management could begin to think about how the crisis will affect tourists' behavior. In my opinion, safety will emerge as one of the most important factors in tourists' decision making. So the hotel management could go through the "design thinking process", through the stages upon arrival at the hotel. Maybe the hotel receptionist will be wearing gloves from now on. The lobby may need to be rearranged to make it more open, reduce the number of seats, move tables further apart. There might be a need to add disinfectants and air fresheners to rooms and throughout the hotel. Maybe add air quality to the hotel website. (April, 2020)
As a tourism student, I can currently contribute to the renovation of tourism by helping with various tourism-related projects where I feel I can contribute. (April, 2020)
Advocacy and research to examine the extend to which local operators are good for local economies and data mining to determine the degree of public funding going to non-local businesses and myriad of funding eligibility rules across the circumpolar world. Perhaps our jurisdiction could learn from others. (April, 2020)
Moving forward, I believe all hospitality companies from the executives to the property GM should have a detailed plan on how to adapt their businesses during pandemics. This will not be the last time we face a problem like this. (March, 2020)
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)
Whilst this is major setback for tourism as we know it and many businesses will suffer as a result, I at least hope this will present an opportunity for the industry to change for the better. A more sustainable approach to tourism is needed, perhaps this will kick start it. (May, 2020)