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
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.
