While there have been growing numbers of sustainable initiatives in the tourism industry, economic interests and environmental initiatives have prevailed over social and cultural perspectives. The post-pandemic period offers an opportunity to correct this discrepancy, so both hosts and guests will feel comfortable with and also responsible for future tourism dynamics.

2.8.1 Deemphasizing the challenges of overtourism

In sustainability-focused hospitality management courses, the industry’s unsustainable practices have been taught from various perspectives. One of the most current examples is the phenomenon of overtourism. Given the damage the COVID-19 crisis has inflicted on tourism, this topic will not be as relevant as before. The concept of overtourism has emerged from unsustainable tourism development and practices (Dodds & Butler, 2019). Due to the current pandemic, international tourism numbers were down 22% in the first quarter of 2020, and will result in a probable 60-80% global drop for the full year (UNWTO, 2020). Henceforth, most destinations were forced to close their doors overnight, which will result in severe economic and social consequences. In addition, local and international tourism authorities have imposed a range of restrictions on tourism companies, and studies have found that tourists will shy away from visiting crowded destinations even if permitted to do so. To make matters worse, the cost of travelling is likely to increase, which will also impact tourists’ behavior. Together these factors will result in decreased tourism and as such, decreased overtourism in key destinations. As a result, this new reality should be reflected in sustainability courses for hospitality and tourism students.

2.8.2 Emphasizing cross-cultural intelligence

From a cultural sustainability perspective, the tourism industry has not been able to develop a meaningful understanding of the culturally different ‘Others’ because it has remained rather standardized and superficial as opposed to having delved deeper into intangible cultural differences. The COVID-19 crisis has revealed that—despite the global character of the pandemic—solutions have been extremely local and national rather than international; thus, national culture still does matter today. Hence, in order to understand the culturally different ‘Others’, their responses to travelling constraints in the destination and their future tourism behaviors, hospitality management education must foster greater cultural intelligence and therefore advancements in cross-cultural effectiveness (Frías-Jamilena et al., 2018). This would enable tourism stakeholders to better manage culturally diverse restrictions and limitations that suddenly emerge such as social distancing, responsibility towards other travelers, and the willingness to accept limited ‘freedom’ in destinations. Understanding key cultural theories could enhance future hospitality professionals’ expertise in complex tourism settings (Islam & Kirillova, 2019; Litvin, 2019). Additionally, cultural dimensions such as proxemics, uncertainty avoidance and in-group/institutional collectivism, among other factors, could decode prevailing underlying assumptions of other cultures, and make tourism encounters more sustainable from a cultural standpoint.

2.8.3 Incorporating sustainability into market and product development

Tourism authorities will need to focus on sustainable marketing in the future because the pandemic has revealed that many future tourists will look for more sustainable destinations. Hitherto, most destinations did little to promote sustainable products and services for tourists. Sustainable marketing is a way to promote responsible tourism destinations that consider not only economic and environmental factors, but also socially and culturally sustainable ones whereby stakeholders feel responsible for their tourism-related decisions and any subsequent consequences. As a result, destinations should consider two major approaches to market their products sustainably: the market development approach and the product development approach (Font & McCabe, 2017). The former centers on promoting sustainable consumerism among tourists, while the latter involves designing sustainable products and services for them. By teaching these sustainable marketing strategies in hospitality curriculum, in conjunction with an in-depth understanding of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the next generation of hospitality professionals will be better trained to cope with future unforeseeable challenges as well as better nurture long-term behavioral changes among all stakeholders.

References

Demian Hodari, Ph.D.
Professor of Strategic Management
EHL

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