Traveling to places associated with death is not a new phenomenon. People have long been drawn, purposefully or otherwise, towards sites, attractions, and events linked in one way or another with death, suffering, violence, or disaster. War-related attractions, though diverse, are a subset of the totality of tourist sites associated with death and suffering. This article aims to assess how "dark" tourism may play a role in leveraging tourism in Palestine, which has largely relied on pilgrimage tourism in the past. This article investigates the potential for developing this form of tourism, since Palestine has been undergoing death, suffering, violence, or disaster through political tension and instability since 1948 and arguably for a generation earlier, but has not yet developed a strategy for tourism development that considers this type of tourism.
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This manifesto describes the notion of sustainable development according to its basic appeal for economic, social and environmental value-creation, together with the implications of its meaning at the level of the individual (the manager), the organisation (the business) and society. As sustainable tourism is focused on the long term, foresight is used to develop four scenarios for a sustainable tourism industry in 2040: “back to the seventies”, “captured in fear”, “unique in the world”, and “shoulders to the wheel”. The implications of the scenarios are mapped for four distinct types of organisational DNA: the blue organisation focusing on quality, professionalism and efficiency, the red organisation for whom challenge, vision and change are most important, the yellow organisation addressing energy, optimism and growth, and the green organisation which is led by care, tradition and security. The manifest concludes with strategic propositions for tourism organisations in each of the four business types and each of the four scenarios.
Within a field that has prioritized ideas of a global tourism industry impacting on a local environment, less attention has been given to regional, cultural, and geographic differences and parallels. A problematic concern in the study of tourism was perhaps the lack of contextualization and the integration of the units of analysis (e.g., tourist destinations) to the larger regional structures and societal processes. We wish to take up the challenge to further disturb the foundations of the field and, more importantly, to participate in the advancement of a more pluralist discourse. A central component in this article is a 5-day study visit in Siem Reap, Cambodia as part of an Asia-based fieldwork of bachelor students in tourism development at NHTV University of Applied Sciences in Breda, The Netherlands. This study visit serves as an illustration of the contextual education approach developed in the tourism course and facilitated by the international classroom setting. This fieldwork's philosophy and the inspirational encounters made possible by it is an attempt to address the challenges posed by the study of the dynamism and changing character of destinations. To conclude we will bring forward selected student experiences as well as dimensions of Cambodian history and society that have enriched our understanding of Siem Reap as a destination. This experience will fuel a discussion on knowledge production in tourism and on the added value of this contextual education approach. The repeated opportunity for our students to meet, think, and reflect on what they were confronted with created a possibility to uncover more than would have been possible via standard research methods using surveys and interviews.
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Background:Many business intelligence surveys demonstrate that Digital Realities (Virtual reality and Augmented Reality) are becoming a huge market trend in many sectors, and North America is taking the lead in this emerging domain. Tourism is no exception and the sector in Europe must innovate to get ahead of the curve of this technological revolution, but this innovation needs public support.Project partnership:In order to provide labs, startups and SMEs willing to take this unique opportunity with the most appropriate support policies, 9 partner organizations from 8 countries (FR, IT, HU, UK, NO, ES, PL, NL) decided to work together: regional and local authorities, development agencies, private non-profit association and universities.Objective of the project:Thanks to their complementary experiences and know-how, they intend to improve policies of the partner regions (structural funds and regional policies), in order to foster a tourist channeled innovation in the Digital Realities sector.Approach:All partners will work together on policy analysis tasks before exchanging their best initiatives and transferring them from one country to another. This strong cooperation will allow them to build the best conditions to foster innovation thanks to more effective structural funds policies and regional policies.Main activities & outputs:8 policy instruments are addressed, among which 7 relate to structural funds programmes. Basis for exchange of experience: Reciprocal improvement analysis and 8 study trips with peer-review of each partner’s practices. Video reportages for an effective dissemination towards other territories in Europe.Main expected results:At least 16 good practices identified. 8 targeted policy instruments improved. At least 27 staff members will transfer new capacities in their intervention fields. At least 8 involved stakeholders with increased skills and knowledge from exchange of experience. Expected 17 appearances in press and media, including at European level.
The Hospitality, Tourism, Innovation & Technology Experts Network (HTIT-EN) is a pivotal initiative aimed at unlocking societal impact potential. The Dutch hospitality and tourism sector, which employs over half a million individuals and annually hosts more than 40 million guests, ranks as the Netherlands’ 8th largest economic sector. However, this sector faces numerous challenges, including the uncertain impact of emerging technologies and issues such as unethical behavior, workforce attrition, and staff shortages, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The advent of emerging technologies like service robots, immersive experiences, and artificial intelligence has brought the sector to a critical juncture. These innovations pose significant disruptions, challenging the traditional concept of hospitality and questioning the positive societal impact in terms of ethical considerations, inclusivity, affordability, and data privacy.Strategically positioned to address these challenges, HTIT-EN focuses on leveraging emerging technologies to create impactful scenarios and shape the future of hospitality and tourism. Our motivation stems from the sector’s societal importance and its continuous influence on our daily lives. By harnessing technology and innovation, we aim to tackle industry-specific issues and extend the positive societal impact to related human-centered service industries.The overarching mission of HTIT-EN is to empower the Dutch Hospitality and Tourism sector to serve as a driving force for technology-enabled societal impact. The primary objective is to align research activities and promote collaboration. Key objectives include bringing together leading professors specializing in technology-driven impact within the hospitality and tourism sector, initiating research projects in line with a shared research agenda and in collaboration with local and international industry partners, and collaboratively developing expertise in emerging technologies that empower the role of hospitality and tourism as catalysts for societal impact. This endeavor contributes to the development and acceleration of the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda (KIA) ‘Key technologies’ & ‘Digitalization’. The aim is to foster an excellent reputation for Dutch hospitality and tourism as a global leader in technology-driven societal impact.We have strong support from CELTH, the Centre of Expertise within the domain of leisure, tourism and hospitality for the overall ambitions of the research project.Societal issueThe HTIT-EN project bridges societal importance and cross-cutting issues in the tourism and hospitality sectors. It’s fueled by the ambition to leverage emerging technologies to tackle industry-specific challenges, including knowledge and skills gaps, labor shortages and replacements, and evolving consumer expectations.Benefit to societyThe platform brings together professors and researchers from MBO, HBO and WO knowledge institutes as well as diverse set of professional partners to stimulate collaboration, align research lines and establish joint a joint research agenda on how technology-driven impact may become a catalyst within hospitality and tourism.
I-DEMO aims at supporting EU tourism professionals in acquiring and developing key competences in game-based tourism in order to foster innovation and improve overall tourism organizations’ performance. Societal IssueIn the tourism sector occurs skills mismatch between offer and demand. The tourism market presents new needs, such as increasing employability of the tourism workforce. i-DEMO will foster and provide grounds for national and cross-border cooperation in the field of professional competencies.Benefit to societyThe specific objects on i-DEMO are: Enhancing specific skills and competences of DMO professionals and VET students in relation to creative game-based tourism.Designing an innovative and needs-oriented on-line training course “Game-based Tourism”, offered through an online platform, which integrates several sector-specific and transversal skills, including digital, entrepreneurial, and soft skills.Providing DMO professionals and VET students an I-DEMO toolkit to apply gamification and creative strategies in planning innovative and inclusive tourism offer and services. The toolkit includes guidelines and a Visual Virtual Map of EU good practices of creative strategies linked to game-based tourism.Enhancing the replicability potential of project results outside of the partners’ destinations.Collaborating partnersTIMESIS SRL, Italy (Lead Partner); The Phoenicians’ Route – Cultural Route of the Council of Europa based in Italy; Associazione Culturale Tuo Museo, Italy; Pafos Regional Board of Tourism, Cyprus; Stichting Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands; Hellenic Open University, Greece; ACIF – Industrial and Commercial Association of Funchal – Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madeira (Portugal); Wojewodztwo Kujawsko Pomorskie, Poland.
