Pandemic
The Covid-19 crisis is shaking up the industry and, most likely, for a long time to come: experts tell us why things are unlikely to return to the way they used to be.
A crowded page in the south of France.
–AFP
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Wearing the mask at the beach, giving up parties during tropical nights, quarantining yourself after returning from vacation: for many, the enchanted parenthesis is to be combined with the past. The Covid-19 crisis is shaking up the tourism industry.
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The explosion of tourism over the past 50 years is the result of the boom in the economy and industrialization, recalls Valentin Groebner of the University of Lucerne. Its boom reflects the relationship between disposable income and the reduction in costs of traveling long distances.
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The holidays also offer a parenthesis in social status: for three weeks, the tourist spends without counting freed from his worries, continues Mr. Groebner in an interview with Keystone-ATS. Holidays are “a kind of social game”.
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Last utopia
The holidays represent according to the historian the “last individual utopia at the beginning of the 21st century”. For him, it is illusory to think that this industry is likely to radically change the 1.5 billion tourists who left to discover new horizons last year. Because tourism is above all an extremely innovative service industry that is constantly fighting the fatigue of its customers with new offers. This capacity for innovation has existed for 150 years. Today, this “industry of bad conscience” complains about the destruction of authentic and idyllic sites. But it is the same that develops alternative, ecological and sustainable models, according to Mr. Groebner.
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“Traveling was already a very post-Romantic affair long before the arrival of the Covid-19”, according to the expert. However, pandemics have always been a driving force in finding a new way to project into other latitudes.
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The breaking of the Covid
Today, the hyper-rapid and unpredictable spread of the coronavirus could however permanently shake the sector and drive away the recklessness that once characterized our travels. The crisis opens in any case a new reflection.
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Spending your holidays in your own country, being able to count on an efficient health system, limiting your travel and having a limited budget due to a possible recession: these are all new avenues that are needed.
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Christian Laesser, professor at the Haute Ecole de St-Gall and tourism expert, believes that the Covid crisis is only temporary, even if it could continue for an indefinite time. However, a resizing of the tourism branch seemed inevitable to him, due to the absence of Chinese and Indians, even compensated for by Europeans.
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Less money in the future
The economist also warns of a recession that could hit the Swiss tourism industry. The role of the state is important in these moments, according to him. The crisis should clean up structures but also be an opportunity to innovate.
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In the future, there will tend to be less money available for travel, Laesser predicts. Young people are indeed experiencing a second crisis after that of finance in 2008. And they will have to deal with more precarious jobs and greater financial insecurity.
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“People will think twice before they go out and explore the world. Some will simply no longer be able to afford travel, ”predicts Christian Laesser.
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(ATS)
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