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22-23.08.2024

Global Tourism Futures: Destination Heritage or Destination Future?

Different Dynamics in Asia, Europe and the Gulf Region

Date: 22-23.08.2024, 09:00-21:00 | 09:00-15:00 CEST
Place: Eurac Research at Bolzano-Bozen with a Fireside Talk in the South Tyrolean Dolomites and online via livestream
Typology: Workshop: GTF Europe Dolomites

By hosting the international workshop “Global Tourism Futures,” South Tyrol is establishing itself as a platform for an in-depth examination of global tourism development with a special focus on future studies. Various global challenges, such as climate change, technological advancements, geopolitical shifts, and demographic changes, are profoundly impacting our society. The tourism industry, being highly globalized, is inherently tied to these issues and needs to find innovative solutions to address them. Given the contested nature of these solutions and the different dominant paradigms across world regions, Global Tourism Futures aims to bring together experts from Asia, Europe, and the Gulf region to discuss their respective visions for tourism development.

Global Tourism Futures will convene experts, industry leaders, and researchers to engage in rigorous, cross-continental, and interdisciplinary dialogues. By fostering an inclusive and collaborative environment, the workshop aims to stimulate innovation and integrate diverse perspectives on the future trajectory of global tourism.

The workshop centers on the following thesis:

While many historic destinations in Europe continue to grow in popularity, they are forced to cope with overcrowding and all its associated negative social and environmental impacts. Consequently, these destinations mainly seem to focus on managing the influx of visitors, establishing visitor guidance systems, and trying to address the challenges of overtourism. In contrast, the emerging destinations in Asia and the Gulf region are developing entirely new attractions and construction projects from scratch with the ambition of incorporating critical issues related to the planet’s future from the outset. Tourism development in these regions often appears to be more closely connected to a broader vision of the future, challenging questions related to political and economic governance, and fostering a new perspective on the role of leisure and tourism in societies with a high interest in sustainability.

How can a holistic approach to sustainability be embedded into global tourism development and what can the different world regions learn from one another?
To what extent does global tourism address issues of social, ecological, and economic sustainability, or questions of inequality?
How can a balance between destination heritage and destination future be achieved?
What will global tourism look like?

Interactive panels and discussions will provide participants with the opportunity to delve into specific topics and actively share their ideas and strategies.

Focal points

Climate change is having a profound impact on the tourism industry.

It is forcing the sector to realign or even completely rethink existing business models. The rising environmental impact, whether due to natural disasters or the decline in natural resources, makes a reorientation of the tourism industry unavoidable. Sustainability and adaptability are the key concepts for meeting these challenges. Moreover, the question arises as to what extent tourism can take on a role as an "agent of change" in the context of the discussion on the preservation of biodiversity and climate protection.

Artificial intelligence and digitalization are causing a disruption in tourism that is comparable to the groundbreaking introduction of the internet.

The personalization of travel experiences, new booking systems and innovative applications are not only influencing the way in which travel is planned and carried out but are also fundamentally changing the interaction between travel providers and consumers.

The international tourism landscape is undergoing a shift.

Western providers and consumers are losing their predominant role. The Middle East and Asia are emerging as strong players and are openly competing with established Western forms of tourism. This is leading to the emergence of a variety of business models and new competitive structures that are having a lasting impact on the industry.

Tourism customer structures are changing.

Young people and families are no longer the dominant group. The needs and preferences of travelers are shifting, and the tourism industry must adapt to meet the diverse demands of different age groups and socio-cultural backgrounds. More than ever before, travel is becoming a global lifestyle with increasing interdependencies and overlaps between living spaces and destinations, between experiences and adventures in the interplay of virtuality and reality, and between leisure and working time.

Health, nature, sport, and culture will be central themes in the future as determining factors for the quality of life and experience.

Dealing with these issues stimulates new forms of tourism that would not be possible without new forms of mobility.

In the face of these changes, the future of global tourism will depend on the sector's ability to adapt to new environmental and technological realities while meeting changing demographic and socio-cultural demands. Only a holistic approach can set the tourism industry on a sustainable and viable path for the future.

Programme

DAY 1 | 22.08.2024 | Is the Future Tomorrow or Today?

09:00

Opening
Roland Psenner, President Eurac Research

Introduction
Harald Pechlaner, Head of the Center for Advanced Studies, Eurac Research
Wolfgang Georg Arlt, Head of China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI)

09:30

(Re-)Globalization and Futures
Roland Benedikter, UNESCO Chair in Interdisciplinary Anticipation and Global-Local Transformation, Eurac Research

Panel discussion