Covid-19 as an opportunity for sustainable tourism development

As part of the course "Sustainability & Tourism" in the 3rd semester of the Master's program "Entrepreneurship & Tourism", the students dealt with the question of whether the COVID-19 crisis is driving or rather hindering sustainability efforts in tourism in an individual reflection project. "Back to business as normal or transformative opportunity" was the specific task.

"Back to business as usual" or transformation of the industry?

"The world had to stop in order not to fall." (Niewiadomski, 2020, p. 654)

The Covid-19 pandemic has already changed a lot. While two years ago we were still talking about overtourism, a short time later the main topic was the phenomenon of "undertourism" or even "zero tourism" (Romagosa, 2020). One student sums it up very well by choosing the following title for her reflection paper: "Sustainability & Tourism - how can we return to normal, when the normal we had was part of the problem?"

In current travel behavior, we see that instead of many short trips, we are increasingly staying longer in closer destinations. The crisis also acted as a catalyst for the digitalization trend that began years before the crisis. Here, contactless and seamless travel experiences such as online systems for booking and payment systems or visitor guidance were created (World Bank, 2021). The MICE sector has also changed drastically and virtual meetings are replacing business trips, conferences and other event formats in many cases. All of this is good for the climate. But will these changes be sustainable in the long term? Will we really turn away from mass tourism and prefer quieter, more remote areas in the long term? Or will the suppressed desire to travel lead to a boom in air travel and a return of classic mass tourism? Will the trend towards smaller accommodation units, self-catering models and camping, which offer more privacy and security, prevail in the long term?

There are conflicting views on this in the literature. While many see the crisis as an opportunity for tourism to initiate far-reaching structural changes (Becken, 2020; Benjamin et al., 2020; Gillani, 2021; Higgins-Desbiolles et al., 2021; Rastegar et al., 2021; Romagosa, 2020), others are very critical of this change in values. They speak of "green or eco fatigue" or see a major problem in the area of greenwashing. Especially after years of restrictions, there would be an explosion in demand (Jurado, 2020) and people would focus more on the economic upturn, the return to overnight stays as in the reference year 2019 and health aspects (GlobeScan, 2020).

"Tourism and all other industries need to reset today."

However, the students agree that a mindset shift is needed. This corresponds to the OECD's demand (2021): "A paradigm shift in perceptins of tourism 'success' is required across all levels of government and on behalf of all stakeholders. Success should not be judged on visitor numbers alone, but rather from a more holistic perspective that considers the positive impacts that tourism can deliver at the destination on environmental and social levels." A return to the "old normal" is therefore not an option for the younger generation. In their view, sustainable tourism is becoming a social norm. At the same time, however, it is precisely this mindset shift at all levels that poses the greatest challenge. This transformation also includes the question of how we will measure success in tourism in the future. Due to a lack of data, we are still very focused on overnight stays and record results. Realistic alternatives are urgently needed here, such as the well-being of locals, minimizing negative ecological impacts and social justice.

Tourist - Host - Planet

For a long time - true to the motto "the customer is king" - we have focused exclusively on customer satisfaction and paid too little attention to the locals, whether involved in tourism or not, as well as the employees. However, tourism awareness and the attitude of locals and employees play a central role in destination development. How do we deal with the shortage of skilled workers and how can we make working in tourism attractive again? What needs to be prescribed by the state? And do governments that are currently preoccupied with corona management, mandatory vaccination and maintaining critical infrastructure even have time to commit to measures to implement climate targets?

Many studies show increasing environmental awareness, the demand for more sustainable companies (green pressure), products and services and a higher willingness to pay. According to Booking.com (2021), 61% of international travelers want to travel more sustainably in the future due to the Covid-19 crisis and even 80% say they want to book sustainable accommodation. Guests are not looking for overtourism, but individual experiences, often increasingly in nature (Orindaru et al., 2021) and in nearby destinations (Romagosa, 2020). However, when it comes to vacations in particular, there is still a striking gap between intentions and actual behavior. Good intentions yes, actual behavior no. In science, this phenomenon is referred to as the"attitude-behavior gap" (see Daniela Nirschl's master's thesis). There is also the problem that neither experts nor consumers are actually clear about what sustainable travel actually implies.

Literature reference:

Becken, S. (2020). Tourism desperately wants a return to the 'old normal' but that would be a disaster. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/tourism-desperately-wants-a-return-to-theold-normal-but-that-would-be-a-disaster-154182

Benjamin, S., Dillette, A., & Alderman, D. H. (2020). "We can't return to normal": committing to tourism equity in the post-pandemic age. Tourism Geographies, 22(3), 476-483. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1759130

Gillani, S. (2021, June 21). A new era of sustainable travel prepares for take-off. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/new-era-sustainable-travel/

GlobeScan - SustainAbility Survey. (2020). The 2020 Sustainability Leaders Survey. 2020 Sustainability Leaders Report & Webinar | GlobeScan Survey

Higgins-Desbiolles, F., Bigby, B. C., & Doering, A. (2021). Socializing tourism after COVID-19: Reclaiming tourism as a social force? Journal of Tourism Futures, ahead-of-print(ahead-ofprint). https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-03-2021-0058

Jurado, E. (2020). Propuestas de Reflexión desde el Turismo frente al Covid-19. Universidad de Malaga.

Niewiadomski, P. (2020). COVID-19: from temporary de-globalization to a re-discovery of tourism? Tourism Geographies, 22(3), 651-656, 10.1080/14616688.2020.1757749

OECD. (2021). OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2020. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/82b46508-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/82b46508-en

Orîndaru, A., Popescu, M.-F., Alexoaei, A.P., Caescu, S,.-C., Florescu, M.S., Orzan, A.-O. (2021). Tourism in a Post-COVID-19 Era: Sustainable Strategies for Industry's Recovery. Sustainability 13, 6781. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126781

Rastegar, R., Higgins-Desbiolles, F., & Ruhanen, L. (2021). COVID-19 and a justice framework to guide tourism recovery. Annals of Tourism Research, 91, 103161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2021.103161

Romagosa, F. (2020). The COVID-19 crisis: Opportunities for sustainable and proximity tourism. Tourism Geographies, 22(3), 690-694. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1763447

World Bank. (2021). Tanzania Economic Update: How to Transform Tourism into a More Sustainable, Resilient and Inclusive Sector. World Bank.