Fourteen years later, COVID-19 struck, and his scenario, and those of many science-fiction novelists came to fruition. Associate Professor Yeoman teaches tourism futures, and is co-editor of a recently edited book about how science fiction may be used to envisage tourism in the future—from virtual reality tourism as seen in Westworld, to both underwater tourism, and space tourism.
Associate Professor Yeoman is co-editor of Tourism Futures: Science Fiction, Disruption, and Tourism (Channel View Publications) with Professor Una McMahon-Beattie from Ulster University, and Professor Marianna Sigala from the University of South Australia.
“One of the things I try to do is break the cycle of our perception of tourism. Science fiction is very pertinent to this. We think of it as telling stories of things that aren’t real, but a lot of science fiction is this boundary between unreal and real,” says Associate Professor Yeoman .
“We wanted to develop a theoretical framework to give academics a way to frame science fiction as a serious part of academic research. Science fiction is simply storytelling about innovation, emerging trends, and entrepreneurship.”
Science fiction storytelling often predicts future technology, but technology doesn’t become marketable until it is economic, he explains. For instance, Kodak patented an early digital camera in 1975, but the company chose to focus on a film-based future, which ultimately led to their bankruptcy.
He sees the role of the academic as being able to see the patterns, whether this is predicting the impacts of pandemics, climate change, or asteroids. Epidemiologists have been warning us of the possible impact of a pandemic for a long time, and some academics were listening. “But to the general public this was science fiction.”
Tourism has always included elements of storytelling that moves into fiction, says Associate Professor Yeoman. “For example, in Edinburgh, you can take a tour of the Old Town that tells the story about Burke and Hare, infamous graverobbers. You can do this with actors, and AV technology—or you can tell it a different way, and focus on the Plague. Technology is helping us enhance storytelling in tourism.”
Concepts from science fiction can also be used to inform dystopian problems, such as climate change and sea rise, says Associate Professor Yeoman. “Many science fiction books and films are about how to avoid dystopia. The role of science fiction is to push the boundaries, and it can give us a direction of emerging trends—we just don’t know what the pace of change will be.
“We aren’t looking at a linear future because there is so much uncertainty, we don’t know what direction it is going or the pace of change. We don’t know when COVID-19 will finish, and how, and what the implications are. But science fiction gives us a way to explore the future.”
He is optimistic about the possibility of tourism getting back to normal, but thinks there may be further disruptions before that happens. In his 2006 pandemic scenario, he estimated the virus would go on “for three years before the world [recovered], that it would be very disruptive, and the end of tourism as we know it.” What he thinks will be retained is an emphasis on sustainability.
“Up until the pandemic, ‘overtourism’ was the buzzword of the moment. Now it’s COVID-19. But from dystopia emerges utopia. Responding to a disaster, you can only think about hope and coming out of it, about a better world. So the legacy of COVID-19 is the change of our attitudes towards the environment.”
Dr Yeoman’s colleague Dr Ina Reichenberger has a chapter on Harry Potter and the future of tourism in the book, while Associate Dean (research innovation and engagement) at the Wellington School of Architecture, Associate Professor Leon Gurevitch, has contributed a chapter on design, technology and tourism futures in Westworld.
Join Dr Ian Yeoman for a webinar launch of his new book 'Science Fiction, Disruption and Tourism' on 15 March 2022. Further details available soon at: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/events