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This paper aims to understand the various facets of augmented reality (AR) and to explore its prospects for supporting the relaunch of the tourism sector post-COVID-19 in accordance with the guidelines set out by WHO and UNWTO.

This study falls into the category of exploratory research. It is based on a systematic review of secondary data. Thematic content analysis has been adopted to trace out the various ways in which AR can be an aid in overcoming challenges in the relaunch of tourism after the pandemic.

It was found that norms such as social distancing and lower mobility are going to be followed even after the COVID-19. Therefore, there will be a great demand for mobile and Web-based AR to not only ensure tourist safety but also to create unique, accessible, personalized, context-specific, deep and memorable experiences.

Apart from its academic contribution to the existing body of knowledge, this work can assist various tourism DMOs and policymakers to devise futuristic policies for AR-driven tourism management and development.

The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and never seen before. In this context, this study establishes its novelty by exclusively focusing on the aspects of AR that can support the relaunch of tourism post-pandemic.

With an industry 5.0 revolution taking place in the hospitality industry, a shift from manual to cognitive labor is anticipated, characterized by greater sustainability, resilience and a human-centric approach. In this regard, hospitality educators' ability and willingness to teach novel topics such as automation at work, upskilling of employees, man-machine interaction and service robots have become more important than ever. This study aims to interpret the perspectives of hospitality educators about bridging the gap in the employability skills of (next-gen) hospitality graduates and the concerns relating to career sustainability in times of transition.

A case study method was used given the novelty of the topic in a developing country like India. A qualitative survey with open-ended questions, is employed to understand the viewpoints of Indian hospitality educators, including those with more than 15 years of teaching experience. In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 hospitality educators to reach the theoretical saturation point. MAXQDA software was used to analyze the qualitative data collected in the study.

The findings reveal the challenges and motivations of hospitality educators in adapting to frequently changing business environments. In doing so, it sheds light on the methods employed to create a generation of hospitality graduates aligned with the changing dynamics of the industry.

The paper presents the viewpoints of hospitality educators in India in relation to a futuristic approach to next-gen employability and career sustainability. Whilst numerous studies have focused on the role of robots and artificial intelligence in replacing the human component of the service environment, the concept of people working alongside advanced technologies is fairly new and needs to be fully explored.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the alarming spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) began to shock the world on 31 December 2019, and it was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei, in China when a patient presented with pneumonia. To date, the virus has recorded over 2,088,663 cases worldwide. The impact of COVID-19 would be precisely worrying as it aggravated not only tourism but also the learning behaviour of tourism students. What are the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the learning behaviour of tourism students? What lessons could be learned to make it more sustainable for the students? And finally, what would be the suggested resilient strategies for the tourism students in the post-pandemic era? There is no original study conducted to focalise investigation on revealing the negative characteristics of COVID-19 and the learning curve of university students in Malaysia. However, the main objectives of this chapter are to provide an overview of the effects of COVID-19 in the learning behaviour of tourism students for sustainable education and the factors that distress students' minds and how these helped students to share the positive aspects with others. It is gradually visible that the effects of COVID-19 on learning behaviour and dangers to university students in Malaysia and their significance on students' emotional change or learning behaviours are not well perceived. This chapter recommends that educational institutions produce studies to proliferate and document the pandemic's impact on the educational system. It is crucial for tourism students for sustainable education in the current time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disastrous and has affected the hospitality industry worldwide, and the people working in the sector were impacted immensely. The purpose of this study is to understand the viewpoints of hospitality workers in Australia on how lockdowns have impacted professional and personal well-being. The case study methodology is adopted for this study. Viewpoints from Australian hospitality workers were collected through semi-structured interviews. With the pandemic taking surprising turns with the rise of new infections and in turn new pandemic waves, the industry is facing a constant lurking fear of lockdowns. Changing variants of COVID-19 creates a profound effect on the psychological and personal well-being of the people employed in the hospitality sector. This chapter would reflect upon the viewpoints of hospitality workers in Australia after two years of the COVID-19 crisis. A ‘real-time’ assessment is required to understand the vulnerability of hospitality industry workers in a developed country.

The tourism industry is known to be both famous and infamous in a way that there is a blurred line between how much tourism is sustainable and how much it is not. However, there is no denying of the fact that the industry is in need of innovative and upgraded mechanisms to ensure sustainability. Technology, on the other hand, is making great strides in providing support to ensure sustainable development across various sectors. Taking cues from the existing work, this chapter investigates the various facets of technology in imbibing sustainability, especially in the tourism sector, and proposes a framework for technology-led sustainable tourism development process. The chapter concludes that both technology and sustainable development concept share the common principles of being holistic, futuristic and interrelated (integrated). Therefore, technology can be a proper solution to develop a sustainable model.

This chapter examines the role that strategic marketing plans play throughout the process of destination recovery post terrorist attack for the purpose of encouraging the return of tourists. It investigates the impact that strategic marketing plans have as a part of crisis management applying a mixed-method approach which utilises survey data examining future industry leaders to quantify perspectives regarding the relationship between terrorism, tourism and destination marketing. Furthermore, this chapter reviews destination marketing techniques employed by international locations to determine recovery strategies utilising marketing plans. Bali, Paris, Northern Ireland, New York, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey were selected as case studies because they have been the focus of significant research studies to date (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC): BBC News, 2019; Ferreira, Graciano, Leal, & Costa, 2019) which have primarily focused on the relationship between terrorism and tourism regarding the collapse of the tourism industry. A survey was issued to gain perspectives regarding the relationship between terrorism, tourism and destination marketing. Second, case study analysis was conducted to examine both successful and unsuccessful destination recovery strategies. Results indicate that destinations that utilised strategic marketing as a part of crisis management frameworks experienced the return of tourists and recovered. This research contributed to the development of an inclusive, universal crisis management framework encompassing strategic marketing plans as a tool for recovery.

Domestic tourism has been a prominent form of tourism in the archipelagos. Its dominance has at times been considered to be a limitation causing seasonality. The pandemic has changed many things in this regard. Travelling closer to home and domestic tourism have become even more the norm, and domestic tourism is now seen as a blessing. The role of domestic tourism to restart island tourism was investigated by using a group of islands in the central Mediterranean region. Interviews held with stakeholders and secondary data have shown that island to island domestic tourism was key for such destinations to restart tourism – a major economic sector on such islands. As the pandemic rages on, domestic tourism is expected to increase. This is galvanised by the safe environment found on islands where local populations have been fully vaccinated, the pristine natural environment which is highly sought after following a long period of staying indoors, opportunities of self-catering accommodation with full amenities as well as connections gained between islands. Domestic tourism might be also favoured due to its potential to contribute in reducing emissions which is key for the tourism sector to contribute to the European Green Deal targets. However, several challenges need to be addressed. These include addressing seasonality by targeting domestic tourists also off season through adequate packages focusing on diverse niches comprising ecotourism, ensuring reliable and sustainable sea transport services and better management of the natural environment.

The blessing of the sharing economy is that the benefits of development would largely remain locally; this is also a curse because the costs of development too would do the same. While the sharing economy is touted as a creative disruptor, not much is known about their impacts. This chapter examines the role of shared economy actors in the hospitality industry, particularly guesthouses, in tourism recovery. It presents a micro-case study of guest sentiments on guesthouses in the Maldives. Based on an analysis of 17,576 comments, a total of eight factors emerged including: perceived value for money, local culture, hospitality, services, activities, rooms, food and beverage, and island environment. These reviews are useful to understand the factors appealing to visitors to the guesthouses and could become key inputs to the island's tourism recovery strategy.