May 6, 2019
Ten important world tourism issues for 2020
Dave Edgell, professor emeritus in the College of Business’ School of Hospitality Leadership (SHL), recently updated his annual Ten Important World Tourism Issues for 2020.
For the 2020 list, Edgell indicated the issues are relatively similar to last year’s list. To develop this most recent list, he also reached out to the tourism and hospitality community via tourism and hospitality listservs like Trinet, for input and additional thoughts.
This year’s updates focused on numbers eight and 10, which look at a sustainable workforce and indigenous and rural populations.
David Edgell (Photo by Rhett Butler)
Ten Important World Tourism Issues for 2020*
1. Maintaining a destination’s sustainable tourism development: economic, social/cultural, natural and built resources
2. Concerns for safety and security remain an important issue to address within the global travel and tourism industry.
3. Impact on the travel and tourism industry resulting from global economic, social/cultural and political directions
4. Responding to increased interest in the long-term impacts on tourism of overtourism, climate change and global warming
5. The necessity for increased local/regional/national/international leadership in tourism policy and strategic planning
6. Resolving barriers to travel: visas, passports, immigration issues, airline services, fees, and delays
7. Educating travelers and businesses in optimizing the application of new technologies, within the tourism industry
8. Maintaining a sustainable, engaged, skilled and experienced workforce in order to deliver quality tourism experiences
9. Effect on travel and tourism from natural/human-induced disasters, health issues, and political disruptions
10. Utilize tourism as a vehicle for bringing indigenous and rural populations out of their state of oppression and marginalization
About the list, Dr. Bob O’Halloran, SHL director, says, “As noted in number eight, the workforce remains the leading issue for tourism and hospitality across the nation and specifically in North Carolina. The growth and importance of tourism and hospitality businesses in North Carolina’s economy make a sustainable workforce necessary. Our role at the School of Hospitality Leadership is to provide a sustainable supply of high-quality graduates with the hope that they stay in North Carolina as the next generation of leaders in tourism and hospitality.”
Dr. Bob O’Halloran
*Sources of information: university discussions, conferences and seminars, tourism documents, Internet, survey information, industry data, books, articles, and publications, utilization of a modified Delphi approach to gather certain research information, and comments from interested colleagues, students, and others. Research conducted by David Edgell: “International Sustainable Tourism Policy” in the Brown Journal of World Affairs, Volume XXll, Issue 1, Fall/Winter, 2015; Managing Sustainable Tourism: A Legacy for the Future (second edition-2016 Edgell); “Sustainable Tourism Development: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (Edgell, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, Volume 15, Number 1, 2017; “New Directions In International Sustainable Tourism Policy” (Edgell, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, Summer 2018); Tourism Policy and Planning (third edition-2019, Edgell and Swanson); and draft manuscript of Managing Sustainable Tourism: A Legacy for the Future (third edition-2019, Edgell).