DARK-SKY TOURISM FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM RECOVERY In view of the emerged circumstances, the discussion on possibilities of the restart of tourism and measures for its efficient recovery has begun. This has raised an interesting debate among scholars. Opinions regarding the future of tourism were divided between those who supported the immediate start and growth of the activities to achieve “before-pandemic” levels and those who supported a reform of the industry, making it more sustainable, resilient and responsible. Some scholars have argued that tourism should be boosted and restart of the activities should happen as soon as possible in order to prevent further economic downturn. Butcher13 (2020), one of the strongest supporters of this approach, stresses the lack of time for reformation and indicates that postponement of action will threaten the tourism business, jobs and millions of tourists willing to continue travel activities. On the contrary, other scholars, in addition to the economic value of tourism, are focused on social and environmental ones and consider the crisis as a great opportunity to rebuild the industry in a different way. Higgins-Desbiolles (2021) claims that Covid-19 provided a unique chance to review approaches to tourism development, reduce consumption and rethink the future14. Everingham (2020)15 also agrees that pandemic effects should allow a change in consumption patterns and the unsustainability of the travel industry. In addition, Ioannides & Gyimóthy (2020)16 believe “that the present crisis has opened up an unprecedented situation, allowing us to grasp the opportunity and to rectify an otherwise defective global system”. It is important to note, however, that proponents of the first position strongly opposed the industry reformation, emphasizing that it can, in some cases, result in further decline and degrowth of the industry17. Even though tourism has already suffered enough and experiences an urgent need for a quick restart, the reformative approach seems more desirable. This can be explained by the need to continue taking measures and observing the restrictions, inter alia, social distance and limited attendance, to prevent the deterioration of the epidemiological situation. Moreover, future tourism activities 13 Butcher J. (2020) The war on tourism. Spiked Online [accessed on 13.04.2022]. 14 Higgins-Desbiolles F. (2021) The “war over tourism”: challenges to sustainable tourism in the tourism academy after Covid-19, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29:4, 551-569, DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1803334. 15 Everingham P., Chassagne N. (2020) Post COVID-19 ecological and social reset: Moving away from capitalistgrowthmodelstowardstourismasBuenVivir.TourismGeographies.doi:10.1080/14616688.2020.1762119. 16 Ioannides D. & Gyimóthy S. (2020) The COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity for escaping the unsustainable global tourism path, Tourism Geographies, 22:3, 624-632, DOI: 10.1080/14616688.2020.1763445. 17 Butcher J. (2021) Covid-19, tourism and the advocacy of degrowth, Tourism Recreation Research, DOI: 10.1080/02508281.2021.1953306.
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