Digitalisation And Sustainability: Important Factors To Be Taken Into Account For Future Tourism Models

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has hit economies worldwide, but maybe one of the most affected sectors is tourism, given the immediate and immense shock suffered by it. Tourism represents a significant part of many economies, some of them highly dependent on the revenues coming from it in order to improve citizen’s life and conditions. Tourism, a sector built on people-to-people interaction, is one of the major vehicles for promoting culture and advancing intercultural dialogue and understanding. Besides the importance of this sector and the motivation of people in choosing tourism, the paper highlights possible consequences of the pandemic on this sector and insights of how tourism might look like in the future, as modern advanced technologies have come into our attention. Maybe this crisis is also an opportunity to rethink and transform the relation of tourism with nature, climate and economies. So sustainability and digitalisation could be in the center of tourism’s recovery and in designing new tourism business models. I also wanted to add a “human” touch to the paper, so I ask for opinions from my co-workers regarding the impact of COVID-19 on their travel plans and how do they see the tourism sector in the future.