Abstract The chapter outlines the main themes that emerge in discussing the futures of cultural heritage tourism in the MENA region. Six main themes are identified. The tensions between the social and economic dimensions of heritage are illustrated in the construction of heritage, especially for international and domestic tourists. These tensions are also to be found in the wat in which heritage is deliberately used by some regimes to promote certain identities. The politics of identity also strongly influences the desire by some governments to seek World Heritage status for some sites, although the extent to which the heritage significance of such sites is shared by local communities appears problematic in a number of locations. Indeed, heritage tourism, conservation, and management need to look beyond World Heritage to broader issues of attachment and meaning in generating support for heritage conservation measures. The chapter finishes on two main threats to heritage in the region. The deliberate destruction of heritage, whether as part of war and political marketing or for economic gain, and from climate change.
Abstract The Middle East and Sorth Africa (MENA) is a large, complex, and diverse region and is viewed as a huge centre of cultural and travel influence. Nevertheless, the region has been plagued by geopolitical tensions, political turmoil, instability, and conflict over the decades. The conflict-ridden and controversial image of the region in many tourism-generating markets has negatively affected the flow of tourists to the region and hindered the development of tourism despite its wealth of cultural heritage endowments, a climate conducive to tourism, and leisure resources. More recently, in the aftermath of the 'Arab Spring' and the advent of Islamic extremism and fundamentalism, cultural heritage in parts of the region has been placed at risk and has witnessed large-scale devastation, destruction, and looting. The latter has stressed the urgency for post-conflict reconstruction in the Middle East context. The introductory chapter provides an introduction and background to the MENA region from a geographical and historical perspective in general and the cultural and heritage tourism in the region in particular and the challenges it faces. It will also outline the development of tourism in the MENA region and identify key issues in the region with links to the chapters in the book.
Abstract The COVID-19 (commonly referred to as the Coronavirus) outbreak and its massive and swift spread halted mobility globally on an unprecedented scale and substantially and abruptly slowed down the consumption of tourism. This chapter aims to provide a brief assessment of this pandemic which has become a health, economic and geopolitical crisis with direct and enormous effects on the tourism industry at international, national and local levels. It also deals with how enforced degrowth and slow consumption ensued from the unprecedented lockdown and social distancing practices by government have provided unique opportunity for the reset of tourism. The chapter also discusses the challenges of the pandemic in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is finished by critical discussion of transformative discourse shaped in the aftermath of this outbreak in the wider academic community.
Abstract Accommodation has been viewed as the largest and most important sector in the tourism industry. This paper provides a systematic review of 371 papers identified in SCOPUS and WOS databases between 2000 and 2019 on P2P accommodation in the sharing economy. Research on P2P accommodation is experiencing high growth, with Airbnb a major focus for tourism scholars. The provision of authentic experiences, environmental concerns, and socialization are important themes in P2P accommodation research, with trust and negative attitudes of established businesses and government regarded as the main barriers of P2P development. Common strategies to respond P2P accommodation platforms are also identified.
Abstract Since the nineteenth century, the notion of heritage in Tunisia has experienced a number of different identities and political and cultural reorientations which have gradually made it primarily an instrument of tourism-related economic development. The notion of heritage in the country has evolved from one that has been historically stigmatised to a vision of much more mature preservation movement, which suggests a dynamic co-construction in connection with the growth of place marketing and tourism. Indeed, when tourism was initially developed in Tunisia in the mid-1960s, heritage became a branch of industry and focus of development activity. In more recent decades, tourism has led to a more reflexive effort surrounding the notion of heritage that has been intended to systematise the tourist offering and to promote local cultural development. However, the tourist valuation of the heritage has always been confronted with numerous constraints, including the amount of investment, the legal status of sites and monuments, and the logics of local actors. Framed by questions of social, political, ideological, and economic dynamics, the chapter questions the notion and the use of heritage in Tunisia and analyses the interactions with tourism since the colonial period.
Abstract In an effort to contain the advancement of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many states have introduced unprecedented peacetime measures ranging from border closures and travel bans to the suspension of visa exemptions, as well as internal mobility restrictions, including full lockdowns and quarantine for incoming passengers. Nevertheless, coercive measures such as sanctions continue to be applied during the COVID-19 outbreak and have largely undermined sanctioned countries' capacity to respond to the pandemic. The latter has prompted renewed discussion of the humanitarian costs of this frequently deployed foreign policy tool against the civilian populations in the target countries. The inconsistent application of border controls and travel restrictions by states also raise questions as to the politics of pandemics and how they fulfill the International Health Regulations. Framed from a geopolitical perspective, this study aims to discuss the power of sanctions regime in relation to state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper also discusses the degree of selectivity of border restrictions by major global tourism destinations. While the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, its implications are economically and geo-politically far-reaching with corresponding implications for the framing of travel and tourism within humanitarian and political contexts.
Abstract Despite sanctions being one of the most common and far-reaching forms of economic statecraft, there is a notable absence of research on the gendered effects of economic sanctions on women's empowerment in general, and more particularly in relation to tourism. This is surprising given that the burden of economic sanctions is overwhelmingly felt by women due to their vulnerable socio-economic and political status in targeted countries. Drawing upon a disciplinary base in international relations and political science and using a gendered lens via a series of interviews, this study sought to explore the gendered effects of economic sanctions on Iranian women's empowerment in the country's tourism and hospitality industry. The study's findings indicate that sanctions have negatively affected and deteriorated economic, psychological, social and political aspects of women empowerment. The results highlight the vulnerability of empowerment within the religio-patriarchal society of Iran. As such economic empowerment is recognized as a major contributor to the overall empowerment of women in Iran which is therefore severely affected by sanctions. Overall, this study fills a significant gap in tourism research by highlighting the gendered implications of a ubiquitous state tool of coercive diplomacy and foreign policy and its effects on women's empowerment.
Abstract Despite the widespread use of sanctions as a foreign policy tool in the absence of armed intervention and as a means to promote peace, there is notable absence of research on the effects of sanctions on the peacebuilding capacity of tourism and their relationship to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This situation is surprising given that both sanctions and tourism are promoted as a force for peace and reconciliation processes. Drawing upon international relations and political science and via semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the Iranian tourism and hospitality industry, this study investigates whether sanctions contribute to peace and create an environment suitable for tourism development. The findings indicate how the imposition, relaxation and then re-imposition of sanctions by international state actors as a means of peace have paralyzed the Iranian tourism industry through its psychological, sectoral, and societal effects and mobility restrictions. The consequences of sanctions and their sharp contrast with the SDGs are also explored. This study fills a significant gap in tourism research by examining the implications of the application of a widely used coercive geopolitical tool of statecraft in relation to the peace and tourism nexus.
Executive summary We are witnessing an emerging digital revolution. For the past 25–30 years, at an increasing pace, digital technologies—especially the internet, mobile phones and smartphones—have transformed the everyday lives of human beings. The pace of change will increase, and new digital technologies will become even more tightly entangled in human everyday lives. Artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), 6G wireless solutions, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (XR), robots and various platforms for remote and hybrid communication will become embedded in our lives at home, work and school. Digitalisation has been identified as a megatrend, for example, by the OECD (2016; 2019). While digitalisation processes permeate all aspects of life, special attention has been paid to its impact on the ageing population, everyday communication practices, education and learning and working life. For example, it has been argued that digital solutions and technologies have the potential to improve quality of life, speed up processes and increase efficiency. At the same time, digitalisation is likely to bring with it unexpected trends and challenges. For example, AI and robots will doubtlessly speed up or take over many routine-based work tasks from humans, leading to the disappearance of certain occupations and the need for re-education. This, in turn, will lead to an increased demand for skills that are unique to humans and that technologies are not able to master. Thus, developing human competences in the emerging digital era will require not only the mastering of new technical skills, but also the advancement of interpersonal, emotional, literacy and problem-solving skills. It is important to identify and describe the digitalisation phenomena—pertaining to individuals and societies—and seek human-centric answers and solutions that advance the benefits of and mitigate the possible adverse effects of digitalisation (e.g. inequality, divisions, vulnerability and unemployment). This requires directing the focus on strengthening the human skills and competences that will be needed for a sustainable digital future. Digital technologies should be seen as possibilities, not as necessities. There is a need to call attention to the co-evolutionary processes between humans and emerging digital technologies—that is, the ways in which humans grow up with and live their lives alongside digital technologies. It is imperative to gain in-depth knowledge about the natural ways in which digital technologies are embedded in human everyday lives—for example, how people learn, interact and communicate in remote and hybrid settings or with artificial intelligence; how new digital technologies could be used to support continuous learning and understand learning processes better and how health and well-being can be promoted with the help of new digital solutions. Another significant consideration revolves around the co-creation of our digital futures. Important questions to be asked are as follows: Who are the ones to co-create digital solutions for the future? How can humans and human sciences better contribute to digitalisation and define how emerging technologies shape society and the future? Although academic and business actors have recently fostered inclusion and diversity in their co-creation processes, more must be done. The empowerment of ordinary people to start acting as active makers and shapers of our digital futures is required, as is giving voice to those who have traditionally been silenced or marginalised in the development of digital technology. In the emerging co-creation processes, emphasis should be placed on social sustainability and contextual sensitivity. Such processes are always value-laden and political and intimately intertwined with ethical issues. Constant and accelerating change characterises contemporary human systems, our everyday lives and the environment. Resilience thinking has become one of the major conceptual tools for understanding and dealing with change. It is a multi-scalar idea referring to the capacity of individuals and human systems to absorb disturbances and reorganise their functionality while undergoing a change. Based on the evolving new digital technologies, there is a pressing need to understand how these technologies could be utilised for human well-being, sustainable lifestyles and a better environment. This calls for analysing different scales and types of resilience in order to develop better technology-based solutions for human-centred development in the new digital era. This white paper is a collaborative effort by researchers from six faculties and groups working on questions related to digitalisation at the University of Oulu, Finland. We have identified questions and challenges related to the emerging digital era and suggest directions that will make possible a human-centric digital future and strengthen the competences of humans and humanity in this era.
