PurposeThe goal of this paper is to narrate about tourism in Sri Lanka in the context of the current pandemic and other challenges and identify innovative solutions to rebuild tourism.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study was undertaken by employing mainly secondary data sources.FindingsSince the 26-year long civil war in Sri Lanka ended in 2009, tourism grew to unprecedented levels over the next ten years. Sri Lanka had formulated strategies to attract six million tourists and US$ 10 billion earnings by 2025. Tourism had been the third highest foreign exchange earner of the country representing over 5% of GDP, around 500,000 employees. The 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks that killed 269 people severely affected tourism. Within a year of the attacks, the global COVID-19 pandemic further impacted tourism further. The current war in Europe added to the problems of Sri Lanka, which in 2022 plunged to its worse economic and political crisis. The protesters against the political corruption and fiscal mismanagement demanded the resignation of the President, Prime Minister and the Cabinet. In spite of these major challenges, this paper attempts to bring some optimism about the future potential of tourism in Sri Lanka.Originality/valueThis paper suggests 12 key measures and 9 suggestions for innovation to rebuild tourism in Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2030.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify what immediate actions can be taken by the North American hospitality and tourism industry to propel economic recovery in the industry.Design/methodology/approachA selected cross-section of relevant and recent publications is reviewed. Current practices that are in use by practitioners in the hospitality and tourism community are examined and shared.FindingsThis paper suggests that domestic tourism should be encouraged and that hospitality managers should: communicate what actions have been taken to mitigate Covid-19 transmission within their operations, understand what consumers want and need in a Covid-19 environment and embrace and leverage technology to its full potential.Originality/valueThis paper should be of interest as it is speaks to today's challenges that confront the North American hospitality and tourism industry in the Covid-19 operating environment.

PurposeThe aims of this paper is to present views of 13 experts who attended a roundtable discussion.Design/methodology/approachThis article provides a narration of a conference roundtable. The questions by the moderator and a summary of the responses by panellists are provided.FindingsWorldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) is playing a significant applied research role in the world of hospitality and tourism. Further, since 2013, the International Conference on Hospitality and Tourism Management (ICOHT), had been well attended and successful. In 2021, The International Institute of Knowledge Management included a WHATT roundtable in the programme of the 8th ICOHT. Twelve experts from the industry and academia were invited as panellists. They represented eight countries (Canada, Guyana, Iran, Jamaica, the Philippines, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the USA). The lead author of this article moderated the roundtable discussion. In conclusion, 20 of the key implementable concepts and suggestions for the post-pandemic era within hospitality and tourism industry, evolved from the WHATT roundtable at the 8th ICOHT in 2021, are presented.Originality/valueThis paper suggests 20 of the key implementable concepts, for post-pandemic era tourism and hospitality industry.

PurposeThis paper aims to provide answers to the question: “What innovations would enable the tourism and hospitality industry to re-build?”.Design/methodology/approachAt the outset, it redefines the concept of ‘Innovation” in the context of the hospitality and tourism industry. It then focuses on post-pandemic re-building best practices in tourism and hospitality. It captures the essence of the articles in this theme issue collection on innovative actions from around the world and presents concluding remarks.FindingsThis article summarises the key findings of this theme issue and it draws generalized conclusions about re-building the tourism and hospitality industry. In conclusion, 14 key learning outcomes are presented. These include topics such as: rethinking tourism and hospitality products and services, sustaining resilience, collaboration between the government, academia and industry, special interest tourism, domestic tourism, crisis management, digital transformation, the health and safety of all stakeholders, operational efficiencies and environmental sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsThis research contributes to the emerging research theme of tourism and hospitality post-pandemic re-building.Practical implicationsThere are a number of practical implications in terms of industry approaches to the adoption of innovative strategies to re-build tourism and hospitality operations around the world.Originality/valueReaders who are interested in international best practices of hospitality and tourism should find this concluding article of interest.