EAA2021: Abstract

This paper is about the outcomes and lessons learned from a now ending project at Linnaeus University titled “Post-Pandemic Tourism Development: Navigating Uncertainty in the Visitor Economy.” Running from one year until September 2021, the project was a collaboration between Tourism Studies and Heritage Studies at Linnaeus University. It also involved active participation of 10 regional organizations and companies as project partners. The project comprised a series of joint discussions, formal interviews, and a full-day futures workshop. The project’s goal has been to understand how stakeholders in the visitor economy make sense in the short- and long-run of the uncertainty induced by the corona pandemic. It also aimed at building futures literacy and providing support to stakeholders in their decision-making. Besides these aspects, the project group believes that for addressing the challenges of post-pandemic tourism development much can be gained from strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration between our two research areas and from building lasting partnerships between the University and regional stakeholders. In this paper, I will discuss where we are near the end of the project and what we have learned thus far.

futures literacy, cultural tourism, Heritage futures, collaboration

 Abstract (PDF)

Cornelius Holtorf¹