The devastation of tourism globally and in Asia and the Pacific by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has been widely discussed and documented.

It is now time to turn our attention to recovery.

Tourism in the region has been rapidly transforming for decades. Rising regional incomes and shifting consumer consciousness have shaped the growth of intraregional travel and customer preferences. Global megatrends such as digitalization and globalization have also influenced the sector.

Yet even among these major changes, the COVID- 19 pandemic stands as a milestone in tourism’s development in our region. Existing trends, such as digitalization, have been accelerated, and industry faces new demands in areas such as health and safety protocols. Many tourism businesses across the region are thus reimagining the future of tourism and their place in it.

While tourism is largely a private sector activity, it needs to be enabled by a complex web of policy, regulation, and infrastructure investments by government. Reform and recovery initiatives being rolled out by governments in the region will have immediate, long- term, and far- reaching consequences for the industry.

Sustainable development of the sector will require close collaboration across all major stakeholder groups—from governments to communities and private sector at national and destination level, and on to visitors themselves. Opportunities are emerging for governments and businesses to leverage greater consumer consciousness to support sustainable tourism.

In the short term, ensuring public health and safety needs to be the primary focus.

National and local governments should help destinations to reopen safely, while providing clear guidance on safety measures to ensure consumers regain confidence in travel while keeping the safety of host communities and workers.

In many respects, COVID- 19 has presented destinations in the region with a “reset moment” that they can and should use to address long- standing challenges and seize new opportunities, such as putting tourism on a more sustainable trajectory, enhancing digitalization, and stepping-up community engagement and inclusion.