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::
How should we IMAGINE tourism now that we have an opportunity to reset the way we do business?
Which CHANGES would you like to see? If any?
What are your CHALLENGES and CONCERNS?
What are your IDEAS and SOLUTIONS to make it through the pandemic AND into a sustainable and innovative future of tourism?
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.
SOLUTIONS
We are solving this bad season by organizing trips and holidays in Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Italy. (September, 2020)
Tourism employee
Slovenia
Explore #TourismFromZero perspectives
Different perspectives on the selected topic: ALL
Tourism business representative
Bosnia Herzegovina
Tourist
Singapore
Tourism business representative
Slovakia
#From Instagram
TOURISM MEANS
Tourism has been employing me for 25 years. Given that this is a multiplicative activity that is alive and constantly changing, it also brings new challenges. Work in tourism is in all prespectives related to people. Tourist workers are also the best promoters of tourist destinations. (August, 2020)
Tourism employee
Slovenia
CHALLENGES
As an inbound adventure tour operator, the ban on international challenge presented the most immediate challenge with booking cancellations and postponements. Now, as we prepare to relax lockdown restrictions, the challenge is to provide travel experiences that enable guests to travel with us safely and to ensure the continued safety of the communities we visit. (May, 2020)
Tourism business representative
United Kingdom
CONCERNS
How much longer will this last? I am a senior in college and my job search has stopped completely. I worked for four years to walk on graduation and get a job in my perspective field. With the hospitality industry taking a huge hit how will the effect the job market I will be soon entering. (March, 2020)
Student
United States
IDEAS
After all this is over I wish there could be some type of travel focused event that involves getting people together to share their COVID-19 experiences and stories so that we can not only return to normal but come out of it as a better people and society collectively. I'm hoping that this will help open peoples eyes about how we need to change as a society and just how far we have truly strayed from our humanity. (March, 2020)
Student
United States
I CAN OFFER
Social (online) support! As mentioned previously, providing social interaction through technology and media platforms greatly helps and keeps everyones mind busy while providing social interaction to ease the lockdown induced loneliness. I would also be able to provide the resource of shopping for the elderly in my community, which I have done twice this previous month, in order to allow the elderly to stay home and get safely delivered food and not have to possible expose themselves to the virus. Anything we can do to help everyone struggling to get through this time. (April, 2020)
Student
United States
I NEED
It would be nice to hear more ideas and support from professors at my institution as well as other institutions that are leaders in hospitality/tourism and/or business in how to react in these times (i.e. Cornell, HBS, Michigan State, etc.). (April, 2020)
Student
United States
SOLUTIONS
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)
Tourism employee
Slovenia
EXPLOITATION
Lots of people lose their jobs do to this crisis. Employees have to get rid of a lot of job places because they need to safe money and the people who are still working for this company get less paid than before. Lots of employees in Austria exploited the "Kurzarbeit" because they got money from the government but the workers in this company still worked the same amount of hours than before, but they got less income. (October, 2020)
Student
Austria
OTHER / SPOTTED
I think that every organization/company... should start to prepare some kind of plan. They should try to adapt and work from home, come up with alternatives so they don't completely lose costumers/visitors...For example many museums started to offer virtual tours. (March, 2020)
