The world is waiting… We will restart tourism!” it says. For almost a year now, the UN World Tourism Organization has launched the #RestartTourism campaign - asking travelers to be patient, responsible, and to ‘travel tomorrow.’ It took time but here we are finally… Borders are progressively reopening throughout the world! Avid tourists are already planning their next trips. At the same time, the hotels and restaurants, the travel agents and tour operators, the coffees and bars - all the tourism industry - “seem” to be well prepared in welcoming tourists again at their doorsteps. But restarting tourism is way more complicated than just making sure that the mandatory health and safety procedures are met... Well, at least, if we want to restart well, and in a sustainable manner.

Building resilience for times of crises

Over the past two decades, the industry has been seriously hit by waves of global crises (the 2003 SARS epidemic, the 2009 economic depression, and the covid-19 pandemic). By now, anyone can affirm that these won’t be the last ones we will face. In uncertain times as these, we need to be better prepared to face further global crises. In other words, the industry needs to be more resilient.One way to reach that desired ability is to foster and strengthen the state of our domestic tourism. The thing is when a global crisis hits, foreign tourists will refrain from crossing borders and travel internationally. However, local tourists will somehow continue to travel domestically and will keep the business running. Countries with weak domestic tourism are indeed less able to endure the impacts of major global crises in international markets (Tourism Industry Association New Zealand, 2015).

If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we can no longer afford to do things the way we used to do. It is high time that we adjusted our strategies in order to include the domestic travelers at the heart of the tourism industry. Give them a greater consideration the next time you develop your new products, when you work on your pricing strategy or design your marketing campaign... I am not suggesting we should forget the international market. Far from it! But if international travelers are your only target, you should seriously consider making a local addition.

“Global warming” you say?

Domestic tourism truly has the ability to empower the industry. However, not all types of domestic tourism do - especially now with the pressing climate change crisis. For decades now, thousands of Malagasy people are squashed up on the beaches of Mahajanga or in the small town of Foulpointe for their annual summer vacation. Despite generating economic benefits, this type of domestic mass tourism generally comes with various negative environmental impacts. This destructive behavior needs to be changed if we want to restart tourism well. As the UN Secretary-General said at the COP26, “Either we stop it - or it stops us.”

Travelers should no longer travel the way they used to! Additionally, tourism operators should offer ways for travelers to travel differently. Breakations, adventure and sport tourism, cultural and heritage tourism, and even agritourism are all rising trends among modern Malagasy travelers – multiple opportunities to develop new tourism products that are more environmentally friendly than the traditional mass coastal tourism. By adding a spice of “environmental education,” we stand a real chance to change the shape of the tourism industry.