UON joins coalition working to shape the future of Tourism

Spearheaded by the Events, Tourism & Hospitality subject team, the University of Northampton has added its signatory to the Future of Tourism Coalition, which has a global mission to place destinations at the heart of post-pandemic recovery strategies.

Decades of unprecedented and unrestricted growth in travel have resulted in the path less travelled becoming a rarer find, with the world’s treasured places at risk of over-tourism and devastating impacts, environmentally, culturally, socially, and financially.

Then the pandemic hit, and tourism halted. As the industry begins to emerge, the Future of Tourism Coalition calls for travel to become more responsible, leaving a lasting positive impact on destinations.

The travel and tourism industries face a precarious and uncertain future due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Coalition believes that now is the perfect moment for the industry to go further than sustainable travel, which aims to offset, and leave no trace, and adopt regenerative travel strategies, which are designed to support the long-term success of destinations worldwide.

Ivna Reic, Head of Subject for Events, Tourism & Hospitality at the University of Northampton said: “The future for tourism is the idea to leave a place better than you found it – giving destinations support to grow, environmentally, culturally, socially, and financially. During the pandemic, we’ve all discovered the power of using our resources – money and time – to create a local impact. I believe our travel choices should reflect this same desire to support areas which give us so much joy as tourists.

To rally global change, the Coalition has shared their Guiding Principles that outline a vision for tourism’s path forward and they are calling on tourism agencies, travel companies, governments, investors, non-governmental organizations, and destination communities to commit to them.

Ivna continued: “The University of Northampton has added its signatory to the Coalition to further support the academic research influencing this important direction of travel for a healthier tourism industry, while protecting the places and people on which it depends. We are acutely aware that universities are in a unique position to inspire and train future responsible industry professionals who will take ownership to implement this vision.

“Long-term resilient social, economic, and environmental recovery and regeneration will require all sectors within our industries to rethink how tourism works, who it works for, and how success is defined. The path to change is a journey and lasting solutions will take time, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the events, tourism and hospitality industries to tip the scale away from viewing success in financial terms only, and to effect meaningful change by valuing social, cultural and environmental impact of our activities for the benefit of our industries and the wider society – locally, nationally and globally.”

Join the University of Northampton’s events, tourism, and hospitality team on 30 June, for a webinar to explore the future of the sector. In this webinar, the University team, in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg School of Tourism & Hospitality, the Future of Tourism Coalition, Otolo, and key industry experts, will discuss how the tourism and hospitality industries can and should, embrace doing things better post-pandemic.