ABSTRACT
Undoubtedly, we are not able to return to where we were before COVID-19 materialised on the global tourism stage in early February 2020. It is clear that such types of pandemic are spread swiftly and efficiently by mass tourism transits – whether on cruise ships, inter-continental flights or high volume beach tourism. The potential for further shocks to occur until mass-vaccination occurs is inevitable. However, the experience of 2020 shows that the crisis has been successfully survived by those destinations that provide individual safety and distance, quality natural environment, remoteness from the masses, etc. Before the pandemic, key concepts in the task of creating Ethical and Responsible Tourism included responsible management, accessibility and social responsibility, applying carrying capacity to avoid excessive tourism, and participatory planning. However, additional concepts have now emerged which stress the importance of health security, the social distancing of tourism participants, and a need to promote tourism close to consumers. This entails the transformation of development strategies and the search for new development paradigms, which can no longer bypass the principles of sustainable and responsible tourism or be allowed to move away from them.
