Futouristic : Issue 4 : July 2022

Abstract

Every year for the past six decades, the number of tourists around the world has grown exponentially. In fact, 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals have been recorded in pre-COVID times (UNWTO, 2020). Tourism has contributed to over 10 % of the global GDP, raking in trillions of euros and creating numerous employment opportunities: up to 330 million in 2019 (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2021). The impact of tourism has also led to its inclusion in higher education, as more people are seeking formal ways to learn about tourism and show proof of their expertise. This has fostered research and expansion in the industry, allowing the liberal and professional aspects of tourism to be combined whilst promoting collaboration with other sectors like sports, health, events, real estate, food, and beverages. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a shift in the global approach to tourism. With the lockdown, travel became restricted, and this had a significant effect on both education and tourism. Such dramatic effects led the academic community at the Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) to engage in continuous discussions on how tourism education should be one of the key drivers to contribute to a new strategy towards recovering from the impact of the pandemic. In February 2020, I was approached by the management of Circle International, which is a renowned academic network that brings together scholars from all over Europe and beyond. They expressed interest in hosting their international conference at ITS. Despite the uncertainties that the pandemic has brought with it, not to mention the administrative burden COVID-19 has put on higher education institutions, ITS was determined and committed to host this conference. The Institute wanted to convey a strong message that inspired recovery from a situation which curtailed the social interaction one would expect in a physical academic forum. The conference entitled Higher Education & Tourism: Post Pandemic Trends was held between the 20th and 22nd April 2022 and discussed the effects of COVID-19 on two sectors, namely higher education, and tourism and hospitality. The higher education sector has been considerably transformed by its focus on relatively new models such as Hyflex and other mainstream models, notably e-learning and distance education, both synchronously and asynchronously using modern tools. However, such a transformation (or attempt thereof) is not always perceived as an approach towards educational enhancement. In fact, there are higher education institutions which consider traditional education as a major part of the process, with e-learning serving as an aid rather than a replacement for formal education. The students’ campus life is important and virtual alternatives cannot be the sole option. The content presented in this fourth issue draws from a number of papers presented during this conference, which aimed at finding scientific and realistic solutions to the two important sectors. The discourse also tries to identify the imbalances caused by the pandemic within the economic, social, political, and cultural spheres. It is hoped that this compendium of research papers provides an understanding of sustainable solutions and clear steps forward to address the different facets of tourism and higher education within the post-pandemic context in order to, once again, deliver new and better experiences to tourists, and create more opportunities for learning, employment, and revenue creation.