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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.
#Coronavirus – How is the Industry reacting?
This article presents how tourism companies react to the coronavirus. Some companies use technologies to recover from the crisis. Many countries are offering the potential travelers to visit some tourism destinations and attractions via virtual reality. For example Japan, Brasil, Malta, Berlin, Montreal, Israel, Portland, Philadelphia, #greecefromhome, #austrianhomestories etc.
https://www.thinkdigital.travel/opinion/coronavirus-how-is-the-industry-reacting/ (April, 2020)
For me, tourism means coming out of your comfort zone seeing new things and places and experiencing new adventures. (October, 2020)
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)
We will go back to mass or over-tourism. (July, 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)
Organization of private tours, where we follow all health&safety recommendations. Hotel reservation, travel recommendations, organization of "self drive" tour. (July, 2020)
Until people start traveling again, we need financial support from the state or the European Union so that the company does not go bankrupt. (September, 2020)
Restrict AirBnb accommodations to be only available in high season months, limit the maximum commisson for OTA like Booking.com and Expedia. (April, 2020)
Social media influencers using it for attention; politicians making speeches to further their own agendas and blame various other parties instead of taking responsibility. Others whom are price gouging, being rude and inconsiderate, unfortunately this list goes on and on and on. (March, 2020)
As tourism has stopped, I believe there is plenty of stakeholders that would agree to take Zoom meetings with students. We could then talk about their challenges, and try to innovate their processes for the future. (April, 2020)