In my life, I ’ ve seen it go through what I call the three ages of tourism – the first gear beckon, that of the Westerners seeking their island in the sunday, the second base, that of chap Asians seeking adept food ( largely ) and now, the third base, the raw breed of independent travellers, driven by social media, after food ( largely ), inheritance and the fresh word “ experiences ” ; digital nomads, driven by a desire for a newfangled kind of work-life culture ; and retirees, looking for a moment home to enjoy their golden years .
To take it through the fourth wave, the department of state government is working on putting together a 10-year tourism masterplan to see how tourism, heritage, culture and arts can come in concert and align its tourism industry with the Penang 2030 action plan .
Themed “ A Family-focused Green and Smart State to Inspire the Nation ”, the action plan aims to “ increase livability to enhance choice of life sentence, upgrade the economy, empower the people to strengthen civil engagement and invest in the build environment ”.
Speaking of civil participation, I was thrilled that when I was there, social activist and graphic interior designer Chaz Maviyane-Davies happened to be in township and was giving on a call on the carpet on “ Creative Defiance : Graphic Design For Social Change ” at the Penang Institute .
Creative Defiance by design
not many people know this but Penang has the reputation as “ the island with the militant attitude ” with a potent consumer movement dating back to the 60s. Maviyane-Davies, who hails from Zimbabwe and now lives in the US, first got involved with the Penang consumer apparent motion in the 80s when he was asked to create work for the Consumers Association of Penang .
actually to call Maviyane-Davies a graphic designer is doing him a dangerous injustice. This is a man who ’ second contend grave injustices his whole animation and he fights them through design. ( His impressive body of exercise can be viewed here. )
Introduced by outstanding social militant Dato Anwar Fazal as a man who ’ s lived a life of “ creativity, conscience and courage ”, Maviyane-Davies said, “ I wanted to see how design would fit in the fracture world and communicate through creativity by turning restraint into opportunity and not the intemperance of my discipline. ”
Speaking of his oeuvre through the years, he said, “ I wanted values and conviction to be embedded in my employment to address social and ecological blemishes. It ’ south never been easy but therein lies the challenges of creative defiance. ”
He ’ second surely addressed a fortune of blemishes – racism, ecological disasters, political rhetoric ( Trump figures quite a bit in his work ) – and raises awareness around social issues such as loneliness and consumerism in a world “ where technology imitates closeness ” and “ where we are consumers, not citizens ” .
His function and his words got me thinking about what I feel will be the adult themes for 2019 .
1. Loneliness, grumpiness and disenchantment with big tech, big data, big bullies
The late Dame Anita Roddick once said that whoever could cure loneliness would be able to build a capital occupation. She was mighty. Social networks like Facebook, which do take away loneliness, have built huge businesses out of the human condition but ironically, they are creating even more aloneness and other social anxieties nowadays .
If you are not depart of it, you are out of it. And flush if you are depart of it, then you can besides be out of it. It ’ second not as inclusive and friendly as they ’ d have us believe. And with all the negative promotion around how these big technical school companies are not as “ do-goody ” as they ’ d have us believe, there ’ s growing disenchantment with big technical school, boastful data and big bullies .
There ’ s one while of Maviyane-Davies ’ work called “ Collateral Damage ” where he visualises the smartphone as a mousetrap. Another “ Text Me ” shows a girlfriend ’ s expression with her lips sewn up .
The thing is, how will we respond ? Are we will to stay in the mousetrap ? Do we have a choice ?
Of course, we have a option. A acquaintance of mine decided to quit Facebook and Instagram about a year ago – he had built up a huge fan base by “ gaming ” the system to prove a point and then found he was getting increasingly crabbed and angry with the things he was seeing and reading on his social feeds, and so decided to go cold turkey. When I asked his son how his father had changed, the answer was, “ He ’ randomness less crabbed nowadays. ”
Governments recognise aloneness as a social problem. This article speaks about how half a million japanese are suffering from sociable isolation and how the UK has appointed a minister for forlornness, the beginning in the universe, and gives ideas on how to create more connections in cities .
I know many property developers and entrepreneurs who are trying to address this by reimagining living and work places. “ There ’ s a real interest interplay between real estate and the initiation of modern kind of be and working spaces, beyond co-working, ” said a VC friend who will be focusing on this opportunity in 2019 .
Prediction: The love affair with social media will continue but we’ll migrate to more closed groups and messaging will evolve into their own “worlds” of communication, content and commerce, and models in Asia will lead the way.
2. Don’t put tech first, put the work first
“You now have the ability to reach more people but it’s harder to target.”
(Image credit: g-stockstudio/Getty Images)
When I asked Maviyane-Davies if engineering had changed the direction he worked and his creative process, he said, “ What I have to say has not changed. I am not against engineering but as I get older, I look at issues through a wide lens. You now have the ability to reach more people but it ’ randomness hard to target. so do you increase the number of people you reach or do you do the sour ? My think is, do the work and hope people get to see the ferment .
“ As artists, it ’ sulfur to find a different way to talk about the world than anybody else. ”
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so don ’ triiodothyronine talk about the number of followers you have – this article about this rock star, Threatin, who faked his fame and fooled millions – should be a thoroughly warn. Talk about your work, differently .
And be prepared to work even harder. Don ’ thymine believe that technical school makes things easier, it doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate. The number of startups I can count ( or rather lost count of ) who think the estimate they had was so elementary and could be executed easily and then get caught up and tangled in the execution … and then find they actually have to build something real and palpable offline before the on-line world works in your party favor .
Catching up with a VC who manages a divers portfolio of technical school startups, with two in travel, I asked him, “ So what ’ s your mentality on 2019 ? ” His answer, “ S… will happen and s… is already happening. ”
Prediction: It’s going to be a super tough year for startups – those trying to raise money and those who have raised money. The few big ones, which have raised billions, may have become too big to fail but in their trail, there will be loads that will be squeezed. Flight to profit will happen. So, do the work.
3. Find something to care about, do not be indifferent
My pledge: “to build a bridge between travellers and local communities”.
(Image credit: KeongDaGreat/Getty Images)
It ’ sulfur easy to be apathetic in a worldly concern where we are all so well dead in our urban lives. Want food ? Get it delivered. Want a ride ? Tap for it, and whine about the eminent fares. Want a friend ? Add. Want more likes ? Like in return. Want a movie ? flow it .
What ’ south there to care about ?
But like Maviyane-Davies said, there ’ sulfur so much in the global to care about. “ There are so many things I want to work on. Yemen, it hurts me and finding the best means to address that is unmanageable. I have to find ocular metaphors that people are familiar with. Ninety percentage of my oeuvre that you see – there are 100 ideas before you get to the one. ”
In travel, there ’ mho much to care about .
At Explore 18, during the “ Women In Leadership ” seance, we were all asked to make a pledge on what we would do to support this enterprise. On the board, I read, “ I will interrupt less. ” “ I will listen more. ” “ I will set aside time to mentor. ” Mine was “ to build a bridge between travellers and local communities ” .
Need not be big things, good little steps that lead to incremental change .
Said Maviyane-Davies, when asked how he measures the shock of his influence, “ I can ’ thyroxine quantify the impingement of my work. There ’ south no one bill poster that can change the universe. You can communicate what you believe in the worldly concern and it ’ s up to us, citizens, to change the worldly concern. ”
Less Prediction, More Wish: More companies will embrace a cause. “Women In Leadership” seems to be in fashion right now among the big travel companies. “Sustainability” is another, starting with reduced use of plastics, the big theme for 2018 spilling into the new year. These initiatives will move beyond slogans and will become increasingly local in their outreach and execution.
so, it ’ s up to each of us in travel to change travel for good. They do say that the years ending in 9 are meaning – a act of the decade – where something cardinal shifts as we get to the noughtie years. Post-search, post-social, post-mobile, post-messaging – what ’ sulfur coming ?
The general consensus, when I speak to most diligence leaders, is it ’ s going to be a sturdy year – budgets will be squeezed, capital will dry up which may not be a regretful thing, there will be more angry actions throughout the world – but one thing we know, the more misery and loneliness there is in the global, the more people will need to travel. We just have to ensure we address those motivations well .
so here ’ south to a capital 2019. As bad as it ’ south going to be, we ’ ll ride it out together .
happy New Year.
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