We’ve been through some things together’ - ADDO: WE NOW PROMISE

“We’ve been through some things together, with trunks of memories still to come. we found so many things to do in the stormy weathers. Long may you run.”

In 1975 Neil Young recorded Long May You Run with his colleagues in The Stills-Young band to celebrate what? Relationships, a road trip, the love of his classic Pontiac? Does it matter as the lyrics reflect what this pandemic has brought to many of us. Interestingly Young performed this song in the closing ceremony of the 1976 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games to rapturous applause as it expressed the collective feelings of successfully surviving delivering a major event.

The world has and, is still journeying through stormy weather.

We are today, all in the same storm but in different boats and oh, so many, of those boats don’t have sails, a rudder, or a competent navigation system.

Whether this is really the end of globalisation or merely the fact that we are on the threshold of reorganising the jigsaw of the world-order only time will tell.

What does appear to be true is that countries led by women (for example Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Taiwan, New Zealand, Scotland, Northern Ireland) appear top be managing the response to COVID19 better than those led by a certain type of male politician - and this success is reflected in their approach to leading the recovery of tourism in their respective countries.

Clearly we are all now on the threshold of a new future for the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. We are now dwellers on a threshold of the unknown, where the only certainty is uncertainty and discontinuity. Where are emotions are poised in a way described by Ian Rankin in discussing the Van Morrison eponymous song, Dweller on the Threshold:

Dweller of the Threshold is the title of a song by Van Morrison. In the In the foreward to Lit Up Inside (the selected lyrics of Van Morrison) the great Scottish writer, Ian Rankin says ‘In this song (DOT) Van is talking to all of us, poised throughout our lives between what we have already experienced and what may lie ahead.”

Helping us navigate what might lie ahead as both a tourist =, as a tourism business owner or a destination manager is the concept of the ‘PLEDGE’ (or in the Welsh language; Addo).

Since 1930 in the UK there were moves to try to create a code of conduct for visiting rural areas. In 1981, after 50 years of trying, this emerged as the Country Code (now the Countryside Code) - effectively a set of agreed rules for visitors. In 2017 Iceland, inspired by Visit Iceland (www.visiticeland.com) the Icelandic pledge was launched for visitors to sign agreeing to adhere to a set of responsible travel protocols when travelling to Iceland (to date 75,000 have signed the pledge. New Zealand followed in 2018 and Finland in 2019 (‘I pledge to be like a Finn, slowing down from within’.) - interesting three countries all doing well in the pandemic.

Last week in Wales, again inspired by its tourism team at Visit Wales (www.visitwales.com), the Welsh Government launched Addo. This pledge has creatively evolved the tourist-focused pledges of Iceland and New Zealand and Finland making Addo a pledge for all of us - the resident, the tourist and the business community to sigh up to for the collective sustainable, resilient and robust development of our nation. Inspired YES, inspiring YES and, essential for the new world of tourism

a solemn promise or undertaking. synonyms: promise · undertaking · vow · word · word of honour · commitment · assurance · oath · covenant · bond · agreement · guarantee · warrant