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.
MULTIFILE
Duurzame ontwikkeling staat hoog op lokale, nationale en internationale politieke agenda’s. Denk alleen al aan klimaatverandering, biodiversiteit, de stikstofcrisis, de gezondheidscrisis, de teloorgang van stilte en stiltegebieden en de ontwikkeling van de circulaire economie.Duurzame ontwikkeling bestaat nadrukkelijk uit aspecten op het gebied van milieu, mens en economie. Daarbij is het perspectief van de stakeholders in de sector, de bedrijven, overheden, omwonenden, klanten en belanghebbenden van groot belang.De gastvrijheidssector speelt hierin een dubbele rol: enerzijds creëren deze sector veel waarde uit natuurlijke hulpbronnen zoals juist de kwaliteit van natuur, biodiversiteit, landschap, stilte, schone lucht. Anderzijds speelt de sector een rol bij het ontstaan van klimaatverandering, stikstofoxiden, verlies van biodiversiteit en stilte.Het project beoogt voor bovenstaande problematiek een onderzoekagenda op te stellen. De onderzoekagenda geeft een systematisch overzicht van de problematiek, een vertaling naar de potentiële onderzoeksvragen en mogelijke resultaten.Partners: Hogeschool Zeeland (HZ), NHL/Stenden.
The CSTT contributes to Work Package 1 of the ETGG 2030 project.WP1 involves the development and preparation of the “European SME Going Green 2030 Report” with the objective of providing an overview of Europe-wide action on the state and development of sustainable tourism at different levels, with a particular focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In addition to information on the political framework for sustainable tourism at global and at European levels, the emphasis of the report is on national chapters that are to describe and analyse the current situation of sustainable tourism in general and of SMEs in particular. The CSTT contributes the Dutch chapter.These national reviews should cover information regarding relevant stakeholders, policies and strategies as well as activities and instruments linked to sustainable tourism development at national level. Furthermore, they should address core achievements as well as challenges and opportunities regarding the development of sustainable tourism, possibly taking into consideration the implications of the Covid-19 crisis.
The project focuses on sustainable travel attitude and behaviour with attention to balance, liveability, impact and climate change (as indicated above). The customer journey is approached from the consumer side and intends to shed light on the way COVID-19 has influenced (or not) the following aspects:• consumer’s understanding and appreciation of sustainability • the extent to which this understanding has influenced their attitude towards sustainable travel choices• the extent to which this change is represented in their actual and projected travel behaviour throughout the travel decision-making process • conditions that may foster a more sustainable travel behaviourThe project can be seen as a follow up to existing studies on travel intention during and post COVID-19, such as ETC’s publication on Monitoring sentiment for domestic and Intra-European travel – Wave 5, or the joint study of the European Tourism Futures Institute (ETFI – www.etfi.nl) and the Centre of Expertise in Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality (CELTH – www.celth.nl) highlighting four future scenarios for the leisure, tourism and hospitality sectors post COVID-19. The project will look beyond travel intention and will supplement existing knowledge with crucial information on the way consumers view sustainability and the extent to which they are willing to adjust their travel behaviour to aid the recovery of a more sustainable travel and tourism industry. Therefore, the report aims to generate knowledge vital for the understanding of consumer trends and the role sustainability will play in travel choices in the near future.Problem statementPlease describe which question in the (participating) industry is addressed.How has the sustainable travel attitude and behaviour in selected European source markets been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic? Further questions to be answered:• How did the COVID-19 pandemic influence the consumer’s understanding and appreciation of sustainability?• To what extent did this understanding influence their attitude towards sustainable travel choices?• To what extent is this change represented in their actual and projected travel behaviour throughout the travel decision-making process?• What are the conditions that may foster a more sustainable travel behaviour?
