Tourism’s thriveability requires performative change: Foundations

What are the basic require­ments for tour­ism des­tin­a­tions to thrive? K Michael Hay­wood lays them out in this “Good Tour­ism” Insight.

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These days, anxi­et­ies are run­ning high. Our abil­ity to thrive is under threat. 

Per­mac­rises are wreak­ing havoc: 

• Demo­cra­cies and our freedoms are under attack. 
• Can­cel cul­ture and food insec­ur­it­ies are on the rise. 
• Rampant infla­tion is dampen­ing eco­nom­ic prosperity. 
• Soci­et­ies are becom­ing polar­ised and angry. 
• Inci­vil­ity and ultra-nation­al­ism are driv­ing hate and racism. 
• Pan­dem­ics and cli­mat­ic events are now catastrophic. 

No won­der so many com­pan­ies, com­munit­ies, and coun­tries are adrift; oth­ers lost in their divis­ive­ness and dis-ease. 

While a large num­ber of sus­tain­ab­il­ity, regen­er­at­ive, and ameli­or­at­ing ini­ti­at­ives are under­way, the fer­tile con­di­tions for life — and the well-being of eco-sys­tems, organ­isa­tions, and human­ity — remain in need of revitalisation. 

Are we really sav­ing ourselves? Prepped? Could it be that the self-organ­ising prop­er­ties of liv­ing sys­tems are in abey­ance? I wonder. 

Read “GT” posts tagged with “Risk and crisis management”

There can be no doubt: We’re on the cusp of a new era.

Why, then, isn’t power being prop­erly mar­shalled and man­aged; aware­ness about shift­ing paradigms increas­ing; and, sci­ence being taken ser­i­ously?

Post-pan­dem­ic, tour­ism in com­munit­ies-as-des­tin­a­tion may be on the rebound, but eco­nom­ic reviv­al will not address or resolve these and related con­cerns. In fact, the oppos­ite is likely to occur as oper­at­ors max­im­ise growth util­ising routine beha­viours, policies, and prac­tices anti­thet­ic­al with the com­plex­it­ies of today’s social move­ments. 

Reform­a­tion, how­ever, is possible. 

What fol­lows are some basic require­ments for tour­is­m’s thriveability.

The basic requirements for tourism’s thriveability 

There can be no doubt, sus­tain­able tour­ism counts for devel­op­ment through which the mundan­ity of eco­nom­ics will con­tin­ue to rank highly. 

For­tu­nately, far more is at stake as com­munit­ies-as-des­tin­a­tions become revi­sion­ist, espe­cially in their search for enhanced mean­ing and liv­ab­il­ity; their long­ing for improved qual­ity-of-life and ‘well­th’ designed to enhance the lives of all. 

Read oth­er “GT” posts tagged with “Com­munity-based tourism”

Suc­cess in achiev­ing such out­comes, how­ever, can­not begin until the “why” of com­munit­ies-as-des­tin­a­tions, not simply tour­ism, is known and fleshed out. It’s an inquiry inten­ded to cul­min­ate in clar­ity of pur­pose demand­ing activation. 

The intent: To achieve more lib­er­at­ing forms of self-actu­al­isa­tion, the good life, and civic pride; fun­da­ment­al require­ments lead­ing to tour­ism becom­ing acknow­ledged as an hon­our­able and legit­im­ate super-cluster.

While enact­ment could be con­ten­tious, it needn’t be, so long as com­munit­ies-as-des­tin­a­tions seek to: 

• Resolve the ant­ag­on­ism and mis­trust among stakeholders;
• Con­sol­id­ate the goals of com­munit­ies, organ­isa­tions, NGOs and cit­izens to cre­ate what might be termed a solid­ar­ity dividend;
• Advoc­ate and assume respons­ib­il­ity for pur­suit of the com­mon or great­er good;
• Embrace the eth­ics and aes­thet­ics of care, the basis for ‘inspired hos­pit­al­ity’, ‘com­pre­hens­ive sus­tain­ab­il­ity’, and ‘shared value’.
• Invest in, and enhance, the mag­ni­fi­cence of our world’s unique human, cul­tur­al, and nat­ur­al resources; requir­ing far-reach­ing place-mak­ing and green trans­ition invest­ments, lead­ing to more sus­tain­able, aes­thet­ic, and ‘com­pel­ling communities’;
• Envi­sion travel & tour­ism as a primary means for not just enjoy­ing, but pro­tect­ing and improv­ing the con­di­tions for life, in all its forms; 
• Gen­er­ate loc­al­ised, col­lect­ive action on all sus­tain­ab­il­ity and regen­er­at­ive fronts; 
• Pro­mote eth­ic­al travel;
• Amp­li­fy, sen­su­al­ise, but not dom­in­ate, the centres for com­munity activ­ity; 
• Help people cope with their hard­ships and work through their anxi­et­ies;
• Give voice, choice, and own­er­ship to those most affected by what com­munit­ies-as-des­tin­a­tions do, stand for, and hope to achieve; 
• Cre­ate ‘Des­tin­a­tions-in-Action Net­works of Influ­ence’ to help artic­u­late and respond to press­ing problems;
• End tox­ic beha­viours in work­place cul­tures that account for work­ers’ ‘misery’ and ‘great resignations’. 

Build­ing on these found­a­tion­al qual­it­ies, it’s heart­en­ing that the Sus­tain­able Mar­kets Ini­ti­at­ive is seek­ing fun­da­ment­al mar­ket trans­form­a­tions in favour of people and the plan­et. How­ever, if that and sim­il­ar ini­ti­at­ives (e.g. COP 27) are to be effect­ive, tourism’s lead­ers, des­tin­a­tion man­age­ment and mar­ket­ing organ­isa­tions (DMOs), and edu­cat­ors will need to con­tex­tu­al­ise the details, start doing, and be held accountable.

That’s the sub­ject of the second part of this art­icle.

In the second part of his “Good Tour­ism” Insight, Prof Hay­wood dis­cusses the likely change­makers — lead­ers, DMOs, and edu­cat­ors — and the actions they might take to boost tour­ism des­tin­a­tions’ capa­city to thrive. Read it now: “Tour­is­m’s thrive­ab­il­ity requires per­form­at­ive change: The change­makers”.

What do you think? Share a short anec­dote, com­ment, or ques­tion below. Or write a “GT” Insight of your own. The “Good Tour­ism” Blog wel­comes diversity of opin­ion and per­spect­ive on travel & tour­ism because travel & tour­ism is everyone’s business.

Fea­tured image (top of post): Tourism’s thrive­ab­il­ity requires per­form­at­ive change: The found­a­tions. Base image by Tom (CC0) via Pixabay.

About the author

K Michael Hay­wood is Pro­fess­or Emer­it­us, School of Hos­pit­al­ity, Food and Tour­ism at the Uni­ver­sity of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Prof Hay­wood has recently writ­ten an e‑book “Aston­ish, Smarter Tour­ism by Design”. Find Michael on Linked­In.