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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.
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)
For me, tourism has just as much to do with locality as with business. I believe that we need to discuss tourism not only from a touristic point of view, but rather from a perspective where local businesses, infrastructure, cultural institutions and the local societies in total is taken into consideration as the foundation for all tourism. Since tourism affects all parts of a local community, tourism development should work bottom-up, where locals are involved to ensure that development follows up on the locals values and needs for their own society. With this approach, tourism can add to sustainable growth and welfare, contribute to increased cultural understanding and respect and be a part of the environmental solutions. (May, 2020)
With the situation at hand the challenge is to rethink the way we do tourism. The way it impacts all involved. (April, 2020)
Common items like the hotel TV remote are one of the dirtiest items within the guest room. Light switches, lamps, nightstands sometimes don't get as much detail as needed. (April, 2020)
The hospitality & tourism industry should work closely with environmental protection industries - Human beings are the true 'virus' in the world. In fact, mother nature does not need humans and she can choose anyways she wants to eradicate this species called “human". It's human's own wishful thinking of protecting the Earth only because humans cannot live without nature. (April, 2020)
In regards to learning new skills or getting certifications, here are some websites that may help:
https://www.cvent.com/en/certification/cvent-student-certifications
https://aws.amazon.com/certification/
https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/certification
https://www.thebridalsociety.com/certification-conferences
https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming
https://www.strikingly.com/ (make a portfolio for free!) (April, 2020)
For tourist right now there is only the option to dream of future trips and looking back at past ones. Many destinations around the world already offer digital content to facilitate this. In the future it will be important to receive information about the immunity of the population and I am sure that less crowded destinations will be more popular in the short run. (April, 2020)
For the individual properties, it came down to providing refunds and vouchers for another stay to guests who had already booked for the next few months, as we know they won't be allowed to come stay due to state laws. As a company, we want to keep our employees safe and healthy as well, so telling the ones who can work to work from home. Keeping honest and open communication between the higher-ups and the employees about the status of the company, their working timeline, and honestly anything they have questions and concerns about. (April, 2020)
I think it is insane that you have to pay over €90 to get tested for COVID 19. There are a lot of people who cannot afford it especially when they were put on "Kurzarbeit" or lost their job. I think everyone should be able to get tested for free. (June, 2020)
Don't spend this time stressing but building the future plans and gaining new knowledge that will be useful in the next few years. (April, 2020)