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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.
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Impact of COVID-19 on Travel: Foreign Travel Industry Needs an Immediate Rescue Plan:
This article is based on India's data but it could be translated to all the other countries in the world affected by coronavirus, because it is hitting the tourism sector the same way everywhere.
First it states that globally there is already an economic recession due to the fact that more than one-third of the global population is under restrictions. One of the worst-hit sectors is the tourism travel industry, not only by the evidence of the quarantine but also the cancellation of all the international flights. Currency exchange market depends a lot on travelling so it will drop off incredibly.
During the last years tourism was unstoppably growing in India but now this sector will have just to fight for survival, because even if quarantine ends and people go back to their jobs, travelling will probably still be restricted. He is also stating that in many countries the governments already started up plans for saving the tourism sector but India is not one of them, and should start working on that.
He gives four possible solutions to it: Cancel or postpone the proposed TCS on foreign travel that was introduced in the Finance Bill (2020), One-year GST Relief, Exclusive Fund Allocation for the Tourism Sector, Interest-free Credit Facilities for the Travel Sector.
See the original file here: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/348757 (April, 2020)
Tourism means a lot to me. Since I am employed in travel agency I would say I make a living from tourism. It is not just a job for me, because I always travel even during my annual leave. (September, 2020)
As a current employee in the hospitality industry, I have been forced to stop working due to the coronavirus. I was working to complete my field study at the Inn at Virginia Tech, which I was enjoying so much. Now due to the virus, I am no longer able to work and I am unsure whether I will be able to return to work in the future. (April, 2020)
Due to a death by covid 19 in our family we were very affected. I am cautious and follow the information provided by the experts. (June, 2020)
In one of the President's COVID-19 Press Conferences, Trump had thrown around the idea of businesses being able to fully deduct dining and food expenses. I believe this could be an interesting idea to pursue. Currently, dining and food expenses incurred by businesses can be deducted by 50% as long as they meet certain requirements (cannot be overly extravagant, etc.). If this deductible percentage was increased, it could help to jump start the recovery of the hospitality and tourism industry by incentivizing business meals and group business. A similar case can be made for travel expenses.
Of course, there are ethical implications associated with potential to abuse the system which will need to be weighed. I recommend the spending must meet the current deduction requirements or possibly impose a spending ceiling.
Resources:
https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2020/jan/business-meal-expense-deduction-tcja.html
https://markjkohler.com/writing-off-dining-and-food-expenses/ (April, 2020)
The local knowledge, for hiking in the surrounding mountains. I can show beautiful little places in nature to relax. (June, 2020)
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)
Building accommodation infrastructure for which the access is designed to be separate for each room, precisely to avoid the common closed spaces. (July, 2020)
Not do much an exploitation as such, but discounting I see amongst hotels in Japan will not save the industry as it causes the Prisoner's Dilemma. Everyone could suffer as a result. (April, 2020)
I really like the idea. But I am afraid the world is too greedy to make any honest changes in any other direction than making money/profit. (May, 2020)