COVID-19: from temporary de-globalisation to a re-discovery of tourism?

Abstract

The processes of globalisation and time-space compression, driven mainly by the neoliberal agenda and the advancement of various space-shrinking technologies, have markedly re-shaped the world over the last 75 years in an almost unchallenged manner. Amongst the most significant outcomes of these processes have been the popularisation of international travel and the accompanying global expansion of the tourism industry. As the first major force ever to effectively stop (or even reverse) globalisation and time-space compression, the COVID-19 outbreak has also put on hold the whole travel and tourism industry. In this respect, the tourism as we knew it just a few months ago has ceased to exist. Although the price the world is paying for this is enormous, the temporary processes of de-globalisation offer the tourism industry an unprecedented opportunity for a re-boot – an unrepeatable chance to re-develop in line with the tenets of sustainability and to do away with various ‘dark sides’ of tourism’s growth such as environmental degradation, economic exploitation or overcrowding. However, the path of re-development and transformation which the global tourism production system will follow once the COVID-19 crisis has been resolved is yet to be determined.

摘要

新自由主义和各种空间压缩技术的发展推动了全球化与时空压缩的进程, 在过去75年中以一种无可挑战的方式明显地重塑了世界。在这些过程中最重要的结果之一是国际旅游的普及和旅游业的全球扩张。作为迄今为止首次有效阻止（甚至逆转）全球化和时空压缩的主要力量, COVID-19的爆发使整个旅游业陷入停滞状态。就在几个月前, 旅游活动也戛然而止。尽管全世界为此次危机付出了巨大的代价, 但由COVID-19引起的临时性去全球化过程却为旅游业带来了前所未有的重启机会。这是一个无法复制的机会, 借此去重新发展旅游的可持续性原则, 同时消除旅游发展的各种弊端, 例如环境恶化、经济剥削或过度拥挤。但COVID-19危机过后, 全球旅游生产体系将走怎样的再发展和转型之路还有待确定。

Keywords:

• Globalisation
• time-space compression
• de-globalisation
• tourism development
• creative destruction
• path-creation
• sustainable tourism

关键词:

• 全球化
• 时空压缩
• 去全球化
• 旅游发展
• 创造性破坏
• 路径创造
• 可持续旅游

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Piotr Niewiadomski

Dr Piotr Niewiadomski is an economic geographer interested in the worldwide development of the tourism production system, impacts of tourism on economic growth and sustainability transitions in the tourism industry. He is Lecturer in Human Geography in the School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen (Scotland, UK).