Guest editorial: The re-imagination of New Zealand tourism

Abstract

Virtually, every country's tourist arrivals were affected and continued to be for most of the next two years with significantly reduced air transport links, border restrictions and entry barriers, self-isolation requirements and measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 that impacted, especially hospitality businesses and also the way in which both the public and private tourism sectors were able to operate (UNWTO, 2020). The global tourism community recognised the potential positive implications of the crisis caused by COVID-19, and calls for a re-imagination of tourism towards a more sustainable and holistically beneficial approach were heard everywhere, including, of course, in New Zealand: a country known for marketing itself for over 20 years with the slogan “100% Pure New Zealand” (McClure, 2004) and its natural scenery as the main attraction for nearly four million international visitors per year. Using a prognosis–prediction paradigm from futures studies and a trend analysis approach, the authors forecast a series of tourist trends at the beginning of COVID-19 based upon a multitude of sources. At the heart of Fountain's (2021) paper is the relationship between economy and identity with food and representing both concepts;thus, the following question is propositioned “what role will – or could – food and drink play in a more resilient tourism future for the country?” Fountain observes that COVID-19 has accelerated a number of trends, which are likely to influence the resetting of tourism on a more resilient and regenerative pathway.