COVID19 AS A CATALYST IN EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: HOW DO STUDENTS IN THE FIELD OF TOURISM PLAN TO SUSTAINABLY LIVE AND TRAVEL IN FUTURE? Sandra Macher1, Harald A. Friedl2 1 FH JOANNEUM, Bad Gleichenberg, Austria; sandra.macher@fh-joanneum.at 2 FH JOANNEUM, Bad Gleichenberg, Austria; harald.friedl@fh-joanneum.at In: TOURIST Consortium 2020 (Ed.), 3rd TOURIST Conference on Sustainable Tourism: Building Resilience in Uncertain Times (Conference Proceedings). Kasetsart University, February 3 – 4.2021 in Bangkok, Thailand ABSTRACTS During the CoVid19 crisis, the idea of how far this global health, economic and social crisis could be used as an opportunity to change tourism in a sustainable, climate-friendly direction was frequently discussed in the media. Social systems can essentially be seen as an expression of the interaction between structural framework conditions and adapting individuals (Jackson, 2008). These individuals may have some room for manoeuvre in order to influence their socio-cultural environment. An essential prerequisite for such a system change is the fundamental willingness of individuals to change personally (Murtagh, Gatersleben & Uzzell (2012). Particularly interesting for the understanding of social change potentials is the perspective of future stakeholder in tourism who are already familiar with the environmental and social challenges of conventional tourism development, such as climate crisis (Prideaux 2013; Weir (2017) and over-tourism (Gössling, McCabe & Chen 2020), due to their educational training. The research question was: “How high is the willingness of students of a tourism study program to align their personal lifestyle and travel habits more sustainably for the future on the occasion of the CoVid19 crisis?” Therefor, 17 students of the Austrian Master's degree programme "Health Management in Tourism" were interviewed in summer 2020 by means of a questionnaire. In a second round, the results were discussed in a virtual focus group, consisting of the same students. The results show a high willingness to take responsibility for developments in the world and especially in tourism, both in the private and political sphere. However, it was also clear that those students who were already working or had family responsibilities were much more reluctant to answer. These results suggest that the willingness to commit to sustainability in tourism depends essentially on the respective frame of reference, and that the scope for corresponding and effective commitment decreases with increasing integration into established social systems. Key words: social change, sustainable lifestyle, travel behaviour, problem awareness, climate crisis INTRODUCTION CoVid19 seemed to fall on people like a sudden thunderstorm in the late winter of 2020, which soon turned out to be a steady rain, lasting for longer than a year. In order to fight the pandemic, many governments imposed an abrupt and complete lockdown, with enormous impact on all areas of daily life. Consequences were fundamental changes in the way people worked and interacted with each other. In addition, the way people perceived their world as a whole, especially their possible future, also showed rapid and significant changes. For example, one of the most frequent questions asked by journalists to tourism experts in the spring months was about the chances of a sustainable change in society due to the CoVid19 crisis (Stajic & Friedl 2020; ÖW Global & Friedl 2020; Tagwerker 2020; Brucker & Friedl 2020; Baumgartner 2020). Researchers also reacted quickly to this new situation and discussed scenarios for a post-CoVid19 development of tourism (Friedl, Peeters, Becken et al. 2020; Balas, Lund-Durlacher & Strasdas 2020; Bauer et al. 2020; Bianchi 2020; Butcher 2020; Malazizi & Birsel 2020; Ren 2020; Russo 2020; Zenker & Kock 2020; Zhang, Song, Wen & Liu 2021; Sharma, Thomas & Paul 2021; Fotiadis, Polyzos & Huan 2021). 218 OBJECTIVES The problem with forecasts is especially in times of crises, of course, the lack of data. In addition, these studies tend to take older population groups into account when extrapolating older data, because these target groups played a dominant role in the economy before CoVid19. In contrast, research on the role of young people for the future development of tourism is rather the exception (Richards & Morrill 2020). This circumstance prompted the question of how young people who enjoy a tourism education perceive the CoVid19 crisis, what personal consequences they draw and what perspectives they expect for their professional future. METHODOLOGY For this purpose, a questionnaire with ten questions was sent out in the first step between the end of May and the beginning of June 2020, which was still during the peak phase of the lockdown at universities. The first of these four questions were each to be answered with a scaling of the personal perspective on a scale of 1 to 10. The remaining six questions were open and thus free to answer. Thematically, the questions revolved around personal values and needs, the change of personal views and behaviours through CoVid19, personal goals and influence on the fate of the world as well as political preferences for solving the CoVid19-related tourism crisis. The questionnaire was sent to 17 students of the Master's degree programme "Health Tourism and Leisure Management", class of 2019, at the University of Applied Sciences FH JOANNEUM in Bad Gleichenberg, a tiny, but traditional spa village in the south of Austria, close to the Slovenian border. As an incentive for answering the questions, additional points were offered for the assessment of the course "Health and Nature Tourism". Eleven of the participants were female and six of them male, all between 19 and 34 years old. 15 of the participants had a bachelor's degree in the field of business administration, marketing or tourism management as well as health management in tourism. Two of the test persons were incoming students from the Netherlands and the Ukraine without any previous academic degree. In a second round of interviews on the 12nd of June 2020, the evaluated results were discussed in a virtual focus group. The outcomes of this discussion were used in the interpretation of the results presented here. RESULTS In the first question, the students were asked about the "importance of personal experience as a basis for individual fulfilment and self-actualisation", which most of them rated as "very important" or "important" (modal value: 8, mean: 8.64). The three other scaling questions were also answered with a modal value of eight in each case: - "Importance of contributing to the well-being of the planet and humanity in terms of the fight against global warming and for a sustainable future", - "Importance of social, intergenerational fairness in relation to prosperity and life opportunities in Austria" and - "Importance of social, intra-generational fairness in relation to prosperity and life chances between wealthier and poorer societies of the world". These answers suggest a high level of interest in social and ecological issues of the world, whether in a local or international context. Admittedly, the questions took reference to the Brundtland definition of sustainability (quoted from Borowy 2014) as well as to topics that were dealt intensively in the University course in question. In this respect, the context of the questions must 219 be taken into account as a filter for an adequate interpretation. Despite these limitations, the general high scoring suggests that sustainability-oriented values are well known and established in this group. Change in the view of the world through COVID19 The next question asked about the extent to which the personal view of the world had changed as a result of CoVid19. Here, the answers were not that much consistent as before. Some of the respondents interpreted the present crisis as a critical consequence of globalisation and as an expression of the fast pace of society. An overwhelming number of participants also interpreted this crisis as an opportunity for people to become aware of this harmful fast pace and to take further learning steps against it. A large number of respondents referred to their now more pronounced ecological awareness as a result of the CoVid19 crisis. Climate protection was mentioned most frequently as the goal that had gained in importance for the future. This change of attitude was justified by the time available within one's own homes during the lockdown. As is seems, this kind of general quarantine had opened up scope for reflection. In addition, the topic of the "recovery of nature" as a “positive” result of the lockdown as conspicuously often debated in media reports, had contributed to this new perspective and prompted people to critically reflect on their personal lifestyle and consumption habits as well as the associated globalisation phenomena. This ultimately confronted many participants with the difficult question of whether the currently existing economic system could be maintained at all in the case of a conscious and ecologically motivated renunciation of consumption. Some students concluded that an active balance between a functioning economy and the recovering nature was indispensable. Individual attitudes to the CoVid19 crisis When asked about their strategies for dealing with the current challenges, the participants predominantly assessed this CoVid19-related situation as a constructive learning process. The crisis made them realise that they had taken many things in their lives for granted. In addition, most of them expressed the wish to try to value the "little things in life" more in the future. Among other things, statements were made about valuing family, the feeling of freedom and responsibility for the "homeland". In addition, the students signalled a diminished need for travel to the "wide world", with respondents predominantly reporting planning holidays in domestic destinations while foregoing long-distance flights. This answer is certainly not surprising due to the forced cancellations of planned trips abroad, but the respondents also emphasised the opportunity and importance of getting to know their "home country Austria" better. These answers should be interpreted with caution, because the respondents may also be based on the strategy of making a virtue out of necessity. Instead of lamenting the situation ineffectively, opportunities and new possibilities for life development are identified and cultivated. Such a coping strategy is usually more pronounced at a younger age (Gray& Dagg 2019). Change in personal behaviour This battery of open questions was divided into eight dimensions during the evaluation: Communication and Social Network, Media Consumption, Shopping Behaviour, Leisure Behaviour, Travel Behaviour, Work and Health. The majority of respondents reported increased 220 virtual communication with friends in the form of video phone calls and by social media. Although personal physical contact was massively reduced, most respondents had even noticeably more contact with friends than before the outbreak of the pandemic due to the technical means of virtual communication. Contact was now also maintained with friends living further away, albeit virtually. While media was consumed by most respondents in the form of social media, in addition, newspaper content was read significantly more often than before the crisis, albeit online. Furthermore, a particularly critical view of media content was reported, motivated by the media theming of "fake news" and the associated sensitisation to the validity of media statements. Changes in the respondents' shopping behaviour were reported in different ways. The students tended to buy less than before the lockdown, but consciously bought as much regional food as possible for their daily needs. In this way, they also contributed to the reduction of food waste. Only one person reported increased online purchases as a result of the crisis. These changes in behaviour can easily be explained by the changed framework conditions. The respondents live in a more "reflective" rural environment than was the case before the CoVid19 crisis. Regarding the attitude towards gainful employment, two of the interviewees reported about their forced renunciation of planned stays abroad as part of their studies. One interviewee felt that she was treated unfairly because of the time off from work by her employer. She criticized heavily the way employees were treated in consequence of the lockdown. However, apart from this individual statement, most students reported important learning processes for their further life due to the current CoVid19 crisis. Many of the changes mentioned by the interviewees can in turn be interpreted as an interplay of the impairing CoVid19 framework conditions on the one hand and the teaching content of the "Health and Nature Tourism" course in question on the other. Among other things, techniques of active and conscious perception of natural spaces were taught and specifically practised in this course. In addition, the psychophysical effects of nature on health, such as meditative walks in the forest like “Forest Bathing” (Payne & Delphinus 2019) were addressed and discussed, including coping strategies against stress through targeted activities in natural spaces (Meyer & Botsch 2017). Indeed, it would be an exaggerated interpretation to take the CoVid19 crisis as a kind of "didactic stroke of luck" in this context, but this interplay of the forced lockdown on the one hand and the suddenly raising enthusiasm for forest experiences must not be overlooked under any circumstances. Rather, it underlines the above-mentioned thesis that sustainability strategies only have a guiding effect on behaviour if they are first communicated in a convincing manner and if, in addition, framework conditions prevail that are conducive to the development of sustainable development; finally, there must be a framework of conditions within which these sustainability strategies are perceived as helpful. Change in personal expectations of the future The majority of respondents did not feel any significant change in their personal aspirations for the future. Some students expressed confidence in continuing to successfully pursue personal goals. Some students expressed fears of finding employment in the tourism industry after graduation with great difficulty, if at all, due to the wider effects of the CoVid19 crisis, such as economic recession. Those students with such fears had explicitly aimed for a professional future abroad. The other students, on the other hand, who are more confident about their professional future, plan their careers in their own country. This correlation is hardly surprising. The CoVid19 crisis led to a reversal of the global process of 221 opening borders that has been unique since the Second World War (Newman 2006). This essential factor of globalisation had not only led to a multiplication of new professional and tourist opportunities, but also to a gradual socialisation towards precisely this global mobility behaviour, as stimulated through the EU's Erasmus mobility programmes (Roberson 2018). Nevertheless, it seemed surprising at first that this sudden travel restriction was not perceived as more painful among the students. However, the survey was conducted in May, before the big travel season. At the end of the summer, in the face of a renewed threat of closure, the closed borders were probably judged somewhat more critically, as later research revealed (Abdullah, Dias, Muley & Shahin 2020; Miao, Im, Fu, Kim & Zhang 2021). Change in personal goals Surprisingly, well-being and freedom from worries were mentioned most frequently as personal goals. The global goals of equality and social fairness in working life were also mentioned. A few people, on the other hand, said that their goals had not changed significantly as a result of the crisis, and that their realisation had merely been postponed somewhat. On closer inspection, these answers do not seem surprising at all. Within a very short period of time, the CoVid19 lockdown forced a temporary renunciation of the previously cultivated life-style of multi-optionality (Gross 1994), which could be compensated most effectively with a corresponding culture of sufficiency (Best, Hanke & Richters 2013). This in turn raises the question of the extent to which responses have been incorporated here that were also addressed independently of CoVid19 in the respective course. Thus, it seems reasonable to assume that in the course of answering these questions, the students remembered the sometimes intensive discussion of related topics and now used these constructively to answer these questions. Politically preferred approaches The last two questions were aimed at political decisions that would be considered sensible if the respondent had the necessary decision-making and enforcement power. The first question asked whether, after the CoVid19 crisis, large sums of money should be invested a) in the rapid creation of jobs for younger people, b) in a green and climate-friendly economy, or c) in a "balanced mix of both". Surprisingly, only three people opted for the first option, two for the third option, but twelve for the second option of a sustainable economy. This response is memorable in that it seems to express a strong idealistic, sustainability-minded attitude. This could be interpreted in such a way that the immediate personal advantage of a massive investment in - environmentally harmful - jobs would ultimately be at the expense of quality of life and thus cause more harm in the medium term than benefit for long-term development (Wahab 2021). One could, of course, question whether this answer was even considered desirable. It could also be an expression of wishful thinking under privileged, protected living conditions. This is indicated by the fact that those providers who are already in working life and have to support themselves pleaded for job creation. In the last question about a strategically sensible approach after the lockdown, only two respondents decided against the immediate opening of the borders, while most of the students voted either for a defensive strategy or the mixed solution with a moderate opening of the national borders. As was subsequently shown, this answer also corresponded to the actual political practice, 222 whereby the tourist summer business could be "saved" to a certain extent. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION The CoVid19 crisis forced people around the world to stay at home, which made many to reflect about their general living conditions. Thus, the participants in this study partly changed their view of the world due to these imposed conditions, perhaps also as a result of the intensive discussion of corresponding considerations in the context of the accompanying lessons. In this sense, the prevailing social system oriented towards materialism, maximisation of consumption and prosperity was criticised. The view of the future seemed somewhat unsettled in view of the massive changes experienced in previous certainties. However, an optimistic picture of society's ability to develop was also expressed again and again. According to this, the cohesion of people among themselves would be strengthened by the "crisis". This would contribute to overcoming this "crisis" together. The clearest attitude conveyed by the interviewees concerned the optimistic view of the possibility of a sustainable lifestyle change. The students said they wanted to buy more carefully in the future, such as organic and regionally produced food, consume less and basically act more ecologically. Since, according to the respondents, the forced restrictions on mobility had a positive effect on the environment and the protection of nature, their awareness of the importance of environmental and climate protection was significantly strengthened by this direct experience. These findings can possibly also be interpreted as a desire to participate more actively in environmental protection in the future. It must be pointed out that this perception of "greater awareness" is initially a snapshot. As explained by several examples, awareness is only the prerequisite, but not a sufficient condition for lifestyle changes. This is because it always requires corresponding framework conditions (Lubowiecki-Vikuk, Dąbrowska & Machnik 2021). This insight fits with the aforementioned circumstance that the respondents used their additional free time due to the lockdown for more intensive engagement with political decisions and media reports. This promoted the ability for critical reflection, which is considered fundamental with regard to education for sustainable development (Taimur & Sattar 2019). This could subsequently promote the ability of students to reflect on complex political issues in a differentiated way, rather than seeing the world in simple terms of "black or white". This is because looking at the world systemically and developing differentiated tools to solve complex challenges is also considered a fundamental principle of Education for Sustainable Development (Sinakou, Pauw, Goossens & Van Petegem 2018). RECOMMENDATIONS The question is whether the opinions expressed should only be interpreted as a temporary adaptation to a certain "eco-speak fashion", as was popularly cultivated in the heyday of the CoVid19 crisis, or actually as more deeply rooted ecological convictions of the respondents. If the latter is true, the question remains whether these changed views are "sustainable". In this context, these results can by no means be considered representative due to the specific teaching content of the interviewees' studies. 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