7 Ways Travel MUST Change After Coronavirus (Fodor’s Travel)

A big part of resetting the tourism industry, says Randy Durband, CEO of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, is the improvement of public policy and destination management, beginning with the capacity of governments to guide tourism development. “There needs to be a dramatic shift from spending mostly or entirely on promotion to significant spending on planning and management,” he explains. “Tourism cannot be sustainable if the public utilities at the destination are not sustainable,” says Durband.

“I think it’s really important for everyone to consider themselves either part of the problem or part of the solution,” says GSTC Member Dr. Jonathon Day, Purdue University. If we want to reset the way we travel, we need to consider “the triple bottom line” of responsible travel: how do we spend our money at our destination, what impact are we having on the local (and global) environment, and how can we be good guests by the cultural and social standards of the community we are visiting.