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.
CHALLENGES
I have lost my job at a hotel in March at the beginning of the crisis. Now during summer I am going to work at a surfing school and I am not sure if there are going to be enough guests and how it is possible to work there with the students respecting the hygiene concepts. But it was also hard to study during the crisis because we did not have any course at university but only online. It was hard for me to stay focused at these times and not seeing my friends and colleges to get physical support. Furthermore, it was difficult for me that our freedom got limited and we could not move like we usually do. (June, 2020)
Student
Austria
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
I think tourism is an important part of my life. I like to travel and explore new countries and cultures. Not everybody has the money and time to travel and that is the reason why I am pleased to be able to travel and be a tourist. (June, 2020)
Student
Austria
CHALLENGES
The first time in 9 years I have not traveled anywhere by plane, I actually spent a whole year '20 in Slovenia (which is not so bad, because Slovenia has really a lot to offer) (November, 2020)
Student
Slovenia
CONCERNS
I am concerned for my housekeepers and frontline staff safety and health. They will be interacting with guests that could be sick or cleaning rooms that could contain the COVID-19 virus. Employee safety is a must, and with this face mask shortage prioritizing medical facilities, hotel owners have no priority to receive this essential item to keep frontline employees healthy. (March, 2020)
Tourism business representative
United States
IDEAS
I don't see any problems with the pre-corona tourism-industry, that this initiative could effectively address (exploitation, overtourism, etc.). Generally speaking, maybe concentrate more on regional government and companies to initiate changes. Make tourism more locally attractive to avoid long distance travel. Maybe also put policies (emission tax for flights / subsidize local sustainable businesses) in place to achieve ecologically sustainable tourism (camping is making a huge comeback, while flight destinations struggle). (June, 2020)
Student
Germany
I CAN OFFER
With my studies, I can help to improvise plans and help with getting the wheels rolling again after this all stops. Hopefully someone will hire me so I can help. (April, 2020)
Student
Iceland
I NEED
A list of companies in the tourism industry that are hiring. What companies are going to be looking for employees once things start to pick up again and what companies are no longer going to be able to stay in business due to lost revenues during this time. (April, 2020)
Student
United States
SOLUTIONS
The best solution in my opinion is, that we have to digitize the workflow and learn to handle the e-progress. (December, 2020)
Student
Austria
EXPLOITATION
Criminals phishing company details to claim subsidies entitled for small businesses in various states of Germany. (May, 2020)
Researcher, academic
Germany
OTHER / SPOTTED
I think that the fact tourism is highly affected is not that big of the problem. Yes it’s true that people won’t travel during the epidemic, but when everything is over, people will travel again, they won’t just stop. Maybe this is a great chance for everybody to see how much we all can do to help restore Earth, not just in tourism, but in the whole industry sector. (March, 2020)
