Harald Pechlaner’s research while affiliated with Eurac Research and other places

By leveraging 20 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2020 and 2024 with parish priests and laypeople with an office in the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone (Italy), this paper explores the enduring legacy of the pandemic in terms of digital engagement in Roman Catholic pastoral activities. Additionally, it investigates the impact of ICT and AI on religious authority. A comparison of the two waves of interviews shows that in the new normal, there has been an acceleration of the adoption of ICT and AI, primarily for internal communication purposes. However, faithful engagement and interaction through new and old media have remained one-way, reinforcing current ecclesiastical power hierarchies. Despite some inherent theological limitations to a more participatory use of ICT, the presence of pockets of innovation in extra-sacramental activities points to future possibilities for empowering laypeople and engaging with the faithful without compromising Church doctrine.

According to Head (2008), wicked problems are not just wicked problems in the sense of complex challenges, but situations that are confusing, unique, diffuse, without clear responsibilities or accountabilities, and difficult to resolve. These problems stand out for their uncertain nature, lack of clear solutions and possible irreversible consequences of attempted interventions. Recognising the pertinence of wicked problems in contemporary public policy discourse, this chapter aims to explore and better understand political decision-makers’ handling of these issues, in a tourism-specific context. The discourse on wicked problems, in accordance with 10 characteristics outlined by Rittel and Webber (1973), remains relevant when examining policy responses to mega trends, such as indigenous disparities, sustainability, digital transformation and demographic change. Against this backdrop and positioned within current academic discourse, this introductory chapter briefly foreshadows the volume’s various contributions by academics from around the world who present a wide range of wicked problems in tourism from their respective perspectives and contexts.

Embedded in and interrelated with its broader socio-economic and political context, the tourism system currently faces profound challenges. Against this backdrop, the book Tourism Policy-Making in the Context of Contested Wicked Problems offers a contemporary and interdisciplinary perspective on tourism public policy to aid the description, analysis, and explanation of these wicked and interconnected, complex policy problems. Current problem-solving capabilities and competences of governments to deal with specific tourism policy issues (or wicked problems) such as the climate emergency, tourism mobility, indigenous disadvantages, the COVID-19 pandemic, or the P2P economy are critically analysed and some interesting insights are offered into transition pathways towards tourism sustainability.

It is widely agreed that transformation processes that are triggered by crisis events can challenge conventional behavioural norms and stimulate new ideas and innovations that can assist in the preparations for future challenges. This impetus for transformation processes not only applies to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has also been seen in many other instances, such as the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 or the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which have sparked significant socio-political change processes often with a global reach. The multitude of wicked tourism policy problems discussed in our book often occur in parallel, are of growing complexities, are often not well understood and indistinguishable from one another and exert pressure on the resilience of vulnerable political, economic and community-based systems. These circumstances often present as tipping points which can trigger necessary long-term transformations. However, this process of long-term change must be well planned and strategically implemented. Thus, future transformative destination management should be built on a holistic approach, underpinned by adaptive political leadership in which tourism is not only seen as a driver for economic growth and employment, but as a strategy which successfully integrates social, cultural and ecological goals.

Embedded in and interrelated with its broader socio-economic and political context, the tourism system currently faces profound challenges. Against this backdrop, the book Tourism Policy-Making in the Context of Contested Wicked Problems offers a contemporary and interdisciplinary perspective on tourism public policy to aid the description, analysis, and explanation of these wicked and interconnected, complex policy problems. Current problem-solving capabilities and competences of governments to deal with specific tourism policy issues (or wicked problems) such as the climate emergency, tourism mobility, indigenous disadvantages, the COVID-19 pandemic, or the P2P economy are critically analysed and some interesting insights are offered into transition pathways towards tourism sustainability.