Economy, explained.
Wonder KIM/Unsplash
Is tourism heading for its own “Great Reset”?
War-driven disruption is reshaping travel, but a recent industry summit points to AI, biometrics and digital IDs to ease pressures.
Economy, explained.
Wonder KIM/Unsplash
War-driven disruption is reshaping travel, but a recent industry summit points to AI, biometrics and digital IDs to ease pressures.
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Is tourism heading for its own “Great Reset”?Is tourism heading for its own “Great Reset”?
As flight disruptions, airspace closures, and energy crises become the new normal, the very nature of travel is being reshaped. In the not-so-distant future, AI-powered systems and biometric identification could redefine everything from airport check-ins to border crossings. But could all this lead to what is widely known as the Great Reset, at least in the tourism sector?
When the World Economic Forum (WEF) officially announced and launched the Great Reset (Opens in new window) in June 2020, it was presented as an effort to reshape the global economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the world is facing an energy crisis (Opens in new window) driven largely by ongoing instability in the Middle East and exacerbated by the Russia–Ukraine war, global tourism is among the sectors bearing the brunt of the fallout, particularly in countries heavily reliant (Opens in new window) on tourism revenues.
Across Asia (Opens in new window), rising fuel prices, higher airfares and transport costs, and disrupted flight connections are putting pressure on the travel industry and threatening to make travel more expensive for visitors. Europe, on the other hand, seems to be doing surprisingly well.
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC (Opens in new window)) latest report, tourism continues to play a major role in Europe’s economy, contributing US$3 trillion in 2025, supporting 40.7 million jobs, with international visitors spending US$835 billion across the continent. The organisation, which represents the private sector of the global travel and tourism industry, forecasts (Opens in new window) that tourism in Europe will grow by 3.1% in 2026, continuing to outperform the wider economy and exceeding the 2.6% growth recorded in 2025.
The wider use of this technology also raises concerns about the protection of personal data and travellers’ privacy.
That, however, does not mean the continent’s tourism sector will escape the changes reshaping the industry worldwide. The role of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology were among the key topics of discussion during this year’s WTTC Global Summit, held in Malta on 7–9 October, which I attended as an invited journalist. One of the key messages across several sessions was the need to make travel more seamless through digital visas, biometric identification, better connectivity, and wider use of technology, including AI.
“Why do we continue to provide our identity over and over for the same journey?” Gloria Guevara, WTTC President and CEO, asked during one of the panels, highlighting the potential to simplify travel through digital identity – an idea the World Economic Forum has been promoting since 2017 (Opens in new window).
Whether by coincidence or not, this year’s WTTC Global Summit adopted the theme FUTU[RE]SET, echoing the WEF’s Great Reset initiative launched in 2020. On top of this, Manfredi Lefebvre, WTTC chairman, described the event in Malta as the “Davos of tourism,” a comparison that further highlights the parallels between the two gatherings.
That, however, does not necessarily mean that the WTTC and the WEF share the same agenda, given the differences in their roles and objectives. While the WEF brings together leaders from business, politics, and civil society to address global issues, the WTTC represents the private sector of the travel and tourism industry. There could, however, be a degree of symbiosis between the two, particularly when it comes to cooperation between governments and the private sector.
Dimitri Karastelev/Unsplash
As Guevara, who is also a member (Opens in new window) of the WEF, explained, the WTTC’s “future reset” is about bringing these two sides together to make travel more seamless and shape the future of tourism. But that could be easier said than done, given not only the ongoing conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East but also tensions between traditional allies such as the United States and Canada.
“Canadian travel to the United States had declined by more than 20%,” former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during the WTTC session on 9 October.
At the same time, military confrontations, especially in the Gulf region, have underscored the vulnerability of the global tourism industry, with the aviation and hospitality sectors especially exposed to their effects. As Neal Jones, Marriott International’s president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), said during a WTTC panel, such crises have become the “new normal” for the tourism industry, making it essential for businesses to be prepared for future disruptions.
Does this mean that the era of safe travel has become a thing of the past? Not necessarily. What seems more likely is that airlines will continue to reroute flights (Opens in new window), as they did during this year’s US–Israeli war with Iran. European carriers have already adapted to this “new normal” by avoiding Russian airspace since 2022.
Meanwhile, tourism leaders will need to find ways to maintain security while making travel more efficient and convenient. As several participants at the WTTC Global Summit noted, facial recognition is expected to play a greater role in international travel as countries move towards digital identities (Opens in new window), potentially reducing the need for physical travel documents at various stages of the journey. However, the wider use of this technology also raises concerns about the protection of personal data and travellers’ privacy, another issue discussed at the summit.
Ultimately, whether all this amounts to a “Great Reset” for tourism remains to be seen. What is clear, though, is that the industry is changing quickly, shaped by geopolitical instability, economic pressures, and technological advances.
Nikola Mikovic attended the Malta event as a guest of WTTC with support for travel and accommodation.
About the author
Nikola Mikovic
Nikola Mikovic is a freelance journalist, researcher and analyst based in Serbia.
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