Determinants of Tourism Development in the Aspect of the Challenges of the 21st Century

The paper aims to present the determinants of tourism development in the context of the challenges of today’s economy, i.e. the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the need for the tourism sector to prepare for climate change and the digital transformation of the economy. The study is scoping. To achieve the research objective, a study of domestic and foreign literature, induction, deduction, generalisation and synthesis, and research results of other authors were used. The research used studies from UNWTO, World Travel & Tourism Council, Statista, Travel Trends 2023 (Simon-Kuchner), a European Commission report and other author’ research. The research showed that in the third decade of the 21st century, the tourism sector is affected by health (COVID-19 pandemic), military and geopolitical threats, inflation, climate change and digital technologies. These phenomena influence the behaviour and attitudes of tourists worldwide and shape the opportunities for developing the tourism sector in each country at the macro-, meso- and micro levels. The challenges identified have created, and some will continue to create, crisis risks in tourism. It calls for building a more robust, more sustainable and resilient tourism economy for the future. It will require appropriate economic, climate, and energy policies from governments in many countries.