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Crises such as COVID-19, climate change and economic uncertainty are shaping the challenges in tourism.
Many places and businesses in tourism are implementing more environmental, technical, personnel and advertising measures.
The measures are aimed at both greater sustainability and a stronger economy.
The study shows that political measures mediate between challenges and sustainable development goals.
Brief summary of the study
The study examines how European tourism organizations are responding to current crises such as COVID-19, the climate crisis and economic uncertainties and what sustainability-oriented policy measures they are implementing as a result. With the help of a quantitative survey of 181 tourism policy organizations, perceived challenges, actually implemented policies and the development goals pursued are analyzed. The results show that ecological, technological, personnel and communication measures have been increasingly introduced to support both economic recovery and sustainable development. In addition, the model shows that perceptions of crisis directly and indirectly influence the development goals pursued via the policies implemented.
Findings of the study
Tourism challenges accelerate policy measures
The perceived challenges posed by crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis and financial recessions (e.g. due to the war in Ukraine) have a positive influence on the tourism policies implemented. This means that the need to respond to these serious and diverse challenges encourages policy makers to take action and implement policies. The study identified four main drivers of policies implemented in response to crises: Environmental, technological, promotional and human resource management (HRM) policies.
Tourism challenges increase aspirations
These findings suggest that confronting crises leads tourism stakeholders to pursue specific development goals and reprioritize. The objectives include economic goals, such as generating revenue or improving the regional economy, as well as sustainability goals, such as protecting the environment and improving the quality of jobs in tourism. In view of the intensification of crises, the contribution of political decision-makers to the development of tourism and the achievement of these goals is imperative.
Policy positively influences the achievement of tourism goals
Tourism policy plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable tourism development by encompassing environmental, socio-cultural and economic measures. The policy measures put in place aim to improve both the development of sustainable tourism and competitiveness, which are the two main objectives of tourism policy. The statistically significant path load confirms that the implementation of the policy leads to the achievement of the intended objectives.
Policy as a mediator
Tourism policies mediate the effect of perceived challenges on the intended goals of tourism development. Challenges, such as the climate crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic, can be steered in the right direction through sustainable policies and targeted recovery strategies to achieve the intended development goals. Policy thus serves as a mechanism that transforms the necessary responses to crises into concrete progress towards development goals.