Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer has warned a “global increase in nationalism is the enemy of tourism” and the travel industry must do more to combat it.
Speaking on a panel at the New Deal Europe Marketplace and Forum held at the Congress Centre in London on March 28, Tanzer urged the industry to emphasise the value of travel as a means of mitigating growing tensions between countries as nationalism rises, he said.
When asked whether travellers have a misconception of the southeastern European region due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Tanzer said: “We all, of course, want the conflict in Ukraine to end for humanitarian reasons, but it was clear when it started there was a drop off in demand for holidays in neighbouring countries as people became nervous about travelling.
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“Unfortunately, nationalism is a growing issue globally which could lead to more conflict worldwide and more fear of travel and there is no way of closing our eyes to that fact.
“Across the world we are seeing an increase in nationalism and tourism and nationalism don’t work well together.
“Tourism and internationalism reinforce each other and countries and people having an international mindset facilitates tourism.”
He added: “Anything we can do as an industry to promote the value of travel, of cross-fertilisation and of different nationalities working in different countries is crucial to mitigate that.”