COVID-19 and Sustainable Tourism

Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog!

Today I will be addressing my research question number 2, which is about the consequences of Covid-19 on sustainable tourism.

As we all know, many industries were affected by the pandemic. These effects were no different for the tourism industry, as borders were closed and travel restrictions were enforced.

As a result, the amount of international travel reduced substantially. As research from Statista.com shows, compared to 2019, international travel for tourism has decreased as much as 95% in the Asia-Pacific region as of early 2021(Richter, 2021).

It is likely that some of us did not take any vacation until a vaccine became available, and it is also likely that others still do not feel safe traveling because of Covid.

Although this paints a sad picture for the current state of travel and tourism, we have to consider what is going to happen when the pandemic truly comes to an end, and international travel for tourism becomes more prominent.

Remember that tourism can be sustainable if it can contribute to local sustainable development. The book Post-Pandemic Sustainable Tourism Management by Marko Koščak and Tony O’Rourke says that “the true proof of sustainable tourism will be the sustainable development of local communities that serve as tourist destinations” (Koščak, M. et al., 2021). Only time will be able to tell us whether these communities were able to recuperate their sustainable tourism activities in a post-pandemic setting.

In the book Post-Pandemic Sustainable Tourism Management, the authors also reference recent surveys on people’s relationship with tourism and what they feel they need out of it. Some responses included the following:

· Sense of freedom

· Normality

· Fragility and a new vision of the world

· Locality

Among these, “locality” truly resonates with the concept of sustainable tourism and creates a link between our recovery from the pandemic and resuming tourist activities. As it will likely take time for the tourism industry to reset to the way that it once was — if at all — local destinations should be able to reap the benefits through more sustainable profits and better service.

The authors of the book Post-Pandemic Sustainable Tourism Management noted that with international travel being restricted for most tourist destinations, the only other place for growth in the meantime is the domestic market (Kosčak et al., 2021). I see this as being a likely possibility in our communities, where we do some “local tourism” and discover new places where we already live in order to save on the emotional and financial burdens of international travel while the pandemic begins to fade away.

Next, I will be conducting research with my colleagues about their habits while traveling and reporting them in my blog.

Stay tuned for more!

“See” you soon!

WORKS CITED

Koščak, M., & O’Rourke, T. (2021). Post-Pandemic Sustainable Tourism Management: The New Reality of Managing Ethical and Responsible Tourism. Routledge.

Richter, F. (2021). Infographic: International Travel goes from bad to worse in early 2021. Statista Infographics.