This paper seeks to highlight underlying issues of the tourism system that have led to tourism extremes of too much or too little tourism. Five phases are recognized that reflect different ways of dealing with too much tourism over time, after which the impact of a sudden lack of tourism is investigated in light of future renewal processes. This discussion highlights the remarkable capacity of the tourism industry to adjust to rapidly changing circumstances and crises, even when these cause anguish to individuals and within societies at large. The paper thus seeks to contextualize the current discussions regarding the transformation of tourism post COVID-19. It highlights the complexity of changing a tourism that multiple stakeholders depend on or have grown accustomed to. To come to a more balanced tourism, it is necessary to not only come up with alternative visions and strategies, but also to engage with the political economy nature of tourism development. A future research agenda should therefore also discuss facets of entangled power, social exclusion, inequalities and class differences to come to new reference points of what actually constitutes a more inclusive tourism success.
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This paper examines how a serious game approach could support a participatory planning process by bringing stakeholders together to discuss interventions that assist the development of sustainable urban tourism. A serious policy game was designed and played in six European cities by a total of 73 participants, reflecting a diverse array of tourism stakeholders. By observing in-game experiences, a pre- and post -game survey and short interviews six months after playing the game, the process and impact of the game was investigated. While it proved difficult to evaluate the value of a serious game approach, results demonstrate that enacting real-life policymaking in a serious game setting can enable stakeholders to come together, and become more aware of the issues and complexities involved with urban tourism planning. This suggests a serious game can be used to stimulate the uptake of academic insights in a playful manner. However, it should be remembered that a game is a tool and does not, in itself, lead to inclusive participatory policymaking and more sustainable urban tourism planning. Consequently, care needs to be taken to ensure inclusiveness and prevent marginalization or disempowerment both within game-design and the political formation of a wider participatory planning approach.
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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.
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Chapter 39 in Health, Tourism and Hospitality: Spas, Wellness and Medical Travel, 2nd Edition takes an in-depth and comprehensive look at the growing health, wellness and medical tourism sectors in a global context. The book analyses the history and development of the industries, the way in which they are managed and organised, the expanding range of new and innovative products and trends, and the marketing of destinations, products and services.
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In a matter of weeks last year, discussions regarding tourism in cities changed from how to deal with overtourism to how to deal with ‘no tourism’. Shortly thereafter, a great number of posts on LinkedIn, websites, and blogs highlighted how the tourism crisis that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic could help reinvent tourism, into something more equal, inclusive, and sustainable. And so, online – at leastin mypersonalonlinebubble – there seemedtobe a real momentum for proper, transformative changes in (urban) tourism. How can we rebuild urban tourism in a sustainable and resilient way?
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The aim of this QSR 2022 on tourism is to make an attempt to assess available information about the tourism industry from three countries and various sources and present it in a comprehensive manner. We, thereby, describe common features of regional tourism structures, as well as differences, and we present some of the identified data incompatibilities (sections 2.2 and 2.3). The recommendations in section 3 present avenues along which data collection and monitoring can be improved, inspired by a set of key forces driving change intourism that stakeholders should be prepared for (section 2.4).
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The debate on tourism in cities, both academically and in practice, has for a long time taken place in relative isolation from urban studies. Tourism is mostly addressed as an external agent and economic force that puts pressure on cities rather than as an interdependent part of city systems. The recent debate on city touristification and excessive dependence on the visitor economy, as well as the associated processes of exclusion, and displacement of local city users, serves to highlight how tourism is an integral part of urban developments. A wider urban perspective is needed to understand the processes underlying the tourism phenomena and more transdisciplinary perspectives are required to analyze the urban (tourism) practices. The current article seeks to contribute to such a perspective through a discussion of the literature on urban and tourism studies, and related fields such as gentrification, mobilities, and touristification. Based on this, theoretical reflections are provided regarding a more integral perspective to tourism and urban development in order to engage with a transversal urban tourism research agenda.
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What would Dutch society lose if the Tourism and Recreation sector does not survive and what is needed to preserve its societal value and, preferably even, enhance this value? In this report a combination of methods is used to answer the research question: a literature study, case studies, and a survey among entrepreneurs. A substantial number of scientific articles, advisory reports and conference contributions were analysed in various contexts and for different forms of T&R. In the literature study societal contributions were brought together in a structured manner. The cases reflect the breadth of the sector and serve as good examples of how the sector achieves its societal value, but they also illustrate the challenges. The survey produced several insights. Respondents were asked, for instance, to indicate for each societal value whether they saw a positive, negative or no contribution of the sector. By means of a points system a top 25 was composed and put into a table., this table was used to structure the findings from the study.
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There is increasing evidence that humans are not living sustainably. There are three major drivers of the unsustainable approach: population, consumption and the growth economy. There is widespread denial about these issues, but they clearly need to be addressed if we are to achieve any of the possible sustainable futures. The first and second versions of the ‘World Scientists Warning to Humanity’ both highlight the problem of increasing human population, as do the IPCC and IPBES reports. However, all have been largely ignored. The size of an ecologically sustainable global population is considered, taking into account the implications of increasing per capita consumption. The paper then discusses the reasons why society and academia largely ignore overpopulation. The claim that discussing overpopulation is ‘anti-human’ is refuted. Causal Layered Analysis is used to examine why society ignores data that do not fit with its myths and metaphors, and how such denial is leading society towards collapse. Non-coercive solutions are then considered to reach an ecologically-sustainable human population. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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In the troubled times in which we currently live, the tourism industry has called into question a need for more responsible social practices and more mindful utilisation of natural environments. The Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, has not only become a new wellness trend, but also a great potential for deeply immersive tourist experiences. While there is a wealth of studies examining the positive effects of forest bathing focussing principally on its medical benefits, this qualitative study extends these debates through documenting lived experiences of forest bathers. In so doing forest bathing suggests its latent potential to offer a profoundly mindful experience, and aims to situate this practice more prominently within the tourism discourse.
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