ATLAS Annual conference 2019

Tourism will continue growing in the foreseeable future. Although this may be positive news for tourism businesses, the future of tourism needs to go beyond mere numbers, putting the focus on qualitative issues such as sustainability and wellbeing instead of overnights or money spent.Moreover, modern societies are arguably moving towards a new paradigm in which the preference for intangible experiences over tangible possessions is growing, and therefore experientialism will overtake materialism in people’s pursuit of happiness. As qualities and intangibilities begin to dominate the market, tourism businesses and destinations will have to be rethought so that both tourists and local communities take a prominent role in the development of tourism.