Fostering Resilience Through Travel: Prioritising Well-being, Accessibility and Sustainability

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 endemic forced people not only to think but also to pause and objectively reflect how to deal with the situation that has arisen and how to develop well-being and resilience strategies for the welfare of humanity. The endemic brought a global economic shock of enormous magnitude in most of the countries. Policymakers across the globe today have been facing alarming situations and unpredictable challenges as they try to find solutions to problems in the areas of tourism, at macro-economic levels and in socio-cultural arena. People in developing countries are concerned with earning livelihood and supporting their families and find some opportunities to survive by increase in tourist arrivals. Conversely, industralized countries struggle to improve the general psychological and physical health of their citizens. Travelling for well-being appears to be a sensible and uplifting resilience tactic in such a situation. This piece discusses how, in such a situation, cultivating resilience and well-being techniques may enable us to overcome a variety of obstacles in the travel and tourist industry. According to the author, policies aimed at enhancing well-being through travel should give priority to factors like affordability, accessibility, sustainability, safety and education. By promoting an environment where travel is affordable, accessible and sustainable, policymakers can guarantee that more people can take advantage of the positive experiences and enrichment that travel can provide to their lives, while also benefiting the greater community and environment.

Citation

Arora, M. (2024), "Fostering Resilience Through Travel: Prioritising Well-being, Accessibility and Sustainability", Hunjra, A.I. and Sharma, A. (Ed.) The Emerald Handbook of Tourism Economics and Sustainable Development (Building the Future of Tourism), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 211-232. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83753-708-220241011