Tourism's Endurance: Macao Forum Confronts Lasting Costs of Recovery

From October 15 to 17, 2026, Macao, China, will host the 12th Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF). The event’s thematic focus — “Crisis · Resilience · Evolution: Building a tourism economy for a shared future” — articulates a specific sequence for recovery and growth within the global travel industry. This framing positions crisis as an initial disruptive force, resilience as the adaptive response, and evolution as the subsequent advancement. Yet, the cost of sustaining this evolution, particularly at the granular level of local economies, often remains less defined.

The GTEF gathers political and business leaders, academic elites, and representatives from international organizations to discuss how tourism's scale can achieve lasting transformation. This approach implicitly acknowledges that the challenges to tourism are complex and demand coordinated, high-level responses. However, while such forums are designed to chart broad strategic directions, the practical implementation of “resilience” and “evolution” can impose significant burdens on smaller entities. For micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in tourism, especially across the Asia-Pacific, resilience is not an abstract concept but a daily struggle for solvency and adaptation. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) noted in 2023 that community-based tourism provides an opportunity for MSMEs to become beneficiaries and guardians of well-developed strategies. This observation underscores the difference between strategic intent and on-the-ground reality.

The stated goal of building a “shared future” in tourism implies an equitable distribution of benefits and burdens. Yet, the techniques employed for large-scale recovery, often emphasizing infrastructure development and large-operator stability, do not automatically trickle down. The World Bank reported in 2025 on the effects of conflict on tourism in the MENA region, illustrating how external shocks can derail recovery efforts irrespective of regional resilience. Such geopolitical realities, along with broader economic shifts, can render the concept of a ‘shared future’ particularly elusive for those without significant capital reserves or political leverage. A partnership, described as defying geographical distance with the right approach, is necessary, but the nature of that approach remains critical.

While the GTEF’s emphasis on collective strategic planning is a necessary component of post-crisis recovery, it also risks understating the fragmentation and varied capacity of the broader tourism ecosystem. The ability of individual businesses in Thailand or other Asia-Pacific nations to truly ‘evolve’ after periods of crisis depends heavily on access to resources, clear policy frameworks, and market stability. The Macao forum provides a platform for discussing these macro-level responses, but the deeper question for MSMEs remains: what specific, localized techniques and support systems are being deployed to enable not just survival, but genuine transformation? Without concrete mechanisms to address the economic costs and operational shifts required at the community level, the narrative of resilience and evolution may remain largely a top-down proposition.