WHY DO I HOPE THIS PANDEMIC CONVERTS OUR ATTITUDE TO TRAVEL
Overtourism. For the perfect Instagram ‘gram, influencers ignore local rules. We ignore the needs of the people living in the places we visit, so we book Airbnbs.
Pre-COVID, there was a lot more bad travel behaviour.
Yes, tourists have been acting badly since the beginning of time.
These problems are magnified 1000 times in an age when travel is so simple and accessible for everyone. The infrastructure required to manage the influx of tourists that cheap travel brought was unavailable to destinations.
The pandemic revealed more assholes in the world than we imagined.
However, I believe that the pandemic will make travel more.
We yearn for a reconnection with family and friends. I believe that the experiences we have gone through have also allowed many of us to reflect on the things we take for granted, such as the outdoors, community and local restaurants.
My impression is that if we have the opportunity to travel again, it will be better and more thoughtful. According to surveys and people I spoke to, most people want to reconnect with their local cultures and explore undiscovered destinations. They also want to avoid mass tourism. They also want to reduce their environmental impact.
However, this does not mean that the “tourist” world will disappear. When this is over, there will still be lots of partying in Ibiza and Thailand. (Heck, I mean, look at Tulum right now. It’s crazy! It’s a place where people are eager to return to cruise ships. Many influencers will likely return to breaking local laws for the perfect shot.
However, I believe there will be many more people trying to improve the world.
This is partly because the industry will reinvent itself.
Travel is often referred to as “us experiencing a location”. We go there, do things, and then we leave. We treat places like museums.
It was and still is a common belief that travelling is a right.
Many of us forget that people live in the place we are visiting. They are human, have needs and desires, and don’t like crowds. You might think, “Ugh! There are so many tourists around here,” but all locals think the same thing… and they must live with that feeling every day.
Now, however, there are so many tourist destinations that locals (obviously not in tourism) ask themselves: “Do we want tourists back?” Let’s ensure that they return .”
The pandemic gave destinations and the entire industry the chance to rethink and reset travel and tourism. Instead of trying to solve the problem of “overtourism” as tourists continue to come, they can now rethink the tourism industry one tourist at a time. Everybody is starting from nothing.
This is one example of many, from Prague, Sri Lanka and Goa to Italy and Iceland to the Caribbean.
Travel companies are also changing the way they market to customers. They now focus on locals and promote their green policies. Digital nomads are redefining hostels as co-living spaces for digital nomads. Tourism boards focus on getting people out of the hubs, spreading tourism dollars around, or encouraging people to explore their homes.
Travel professionals are beginning to see the pandemic as an opportunity for positive change. This is not just a movement among destinations but also large brands and resorts. It even affects travel agency organizations.
Because of consumers, destinations and companies, the trio of the tourism industry, travel will change.
This is one of those rare opportunities that people only get once in a lifetime.
Consider your impact on local people and the environment when you travel again. This requires more effort, but it is important to work. It must be done.
We cannot be as reckless as we were in the past.
Before the virus hit, I had already changed how I travelled, especially in regards to my environmental and trash impact. Although I was not the worst traveller, there was still room to improve. I will use local brands and stay in smaller hotels when more travel opportunities open up. I also plan to visit more remote destinations, participate in more cultural activities, and be more mindful of my impact on the environment.
Travellers will never know everything about a country in just a few days. Nobody expects you will. Travel is not a one-way road. Consider what you can give back. What good can I do if I take some of the places I visit back home? What can I do to make this interaction more symbiotic rather than transactional? People who are open to strangers are likelier to want to know about them. At its core, travel is about people. This is what made the sharing economy so beloved.