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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.
Assistance with tourist vouchers only to accommodation facility. Travel agencies were largely excluded because hoteliers do not confirm shared reservations. (July, 2020)
Travelling takes you out of your comfort zone. It makes you see the world differently, not just out of your own little box. It makes you grow as a person. You are never the same after you have experienced the soul of another place and it's locals. And I think that is the magic of travel. (April, 2020)
What probably challenged me the most was reducing social contacts and interactions with friends or family members. After that long time I even started missing going to university, while working from home in front of your laptop. (October, 2020)
Flying in an airplane is a challenge, since that's a place where the virus can spread rapidly and it's impossible to keep distance. Also, at the destination (wherever in the world) there is a risk of bringing the virus and infecting more people there, or the tourist getting infected. Also, since tourism basically came to a stop, people depending financially on tourism face huge problems right now, and for the time to come. Moreover, I'm thinking about all the people who will lose their jobs who work directly or indirectly with tourism, like airline workers, events, cleaners, security, tour operators, guides, hospitality sector and so on. (May, 2020)
This virus has made it very difficult to come up with solutions to this problem when it comes to being a tourist. People don't show symptoms for up to 2 weeks and many people can be asymptomatic. Something I actually heard the other day was that studies are being done that have shown that the spread of the virus is much lower during outdoor events. For example soccer games. I can attest to this because my dad and I went to 2 soccer games during the outbreak and we did not get the virus. So an interesting idea would make public transportation open-air somehow. This would allow people to get around without being stuck inside a vehicle where this virus can run rampant. Outdoor events can also be reopened with maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of the number of people to allow for them to social distance a little while being at this outdoor event. This would allow for tourists to go to places and do some things involved in that culture while slowing the spread of the virus. (April, 2020)
I can speak about my experiences in tennis coaching and mountainbike guiding while the crisis. All the points you have to note before starting the training and how you have to handle the customers. (October, 2020)
We need people who will not be afraid to travel. People who will want to travel. Abolition of travel restrictions. (August, 2020)
For me the best solution at that time was simply to make the best of it and rethink my lifestyle. I realized how important social contacts are and how little we actually appreciate it. I followed the rules and in the end I can say that I did everything I could to get through the pandemic quickly. (December, 2020)
The protests of stay in place orders. (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)