Covid-19 Outbreak as A Blessing in Disguises for Indonesian Tourism: Decomposition of Stakeholders and the Awakening of Millennials.

Covid-19 outbreaks hit the world tourism sector throughout 2020. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates that the global pandemic has the potential to cut up to 50 million jobs worldwide in the travel and tourism industry. Indonesia is predicted to lose foreign exchange by 50 trillion from this sector. In 2019, foreign exchange from tourism reached Rp 280 trillion, so this year the foreign exchange is only Rp 140 trillion. Indeed, it is a sad phenomenon.

Observing the effect of the spread of covid-19 for tourism, if we look it based on statistics and observers' predictions, it is certainly more inclined to feel pessimistic, and it is means only to see the negative impact causes. But, on the contrary, as a wise man says: “Enjoy difficulties. Because of the difficulties behind it must be easy”. It is means: behind the crushing blow of the covid-19 pandemic for tourism, there are valuable lessons that can be taken by tourism stakeholders, especially in Indonesia.

This simple article aims to deconstruct the pessimistic discourse that has become the mainstream of news and discussion in the contemporary Indonesian tourism sector. This is deemed necessary to bring out more good feelings and optimistic feelings, which will bring us as actors in the productive spirit for the practice of tourism after the current disaster. Along with all our sympathy to all workers in this sector, the warriors of tourism at the grassroots who must be "laid off", they cannot even carry out the government's call for "work from home" (WFH), because what they can be done from home, if the work itself is lost?

This manuscript was written amid a situation of deep sadness. The deconstruction effort, by borrowing terms and ideas from the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, was used to see the hidden tensions and texts in the great discourse of the tourism sector's gloom. It is believed there is another side that can be raised as a counter discourse.

Slavoj Žižek, the "eccentric" philosopher from Slovenia, once made a joke related to the disaster: "That's one small step for [a] man; one giant leap for mankind ". But when he saw the eruption of a mountain in Iceland, the phrase changed to: "It was more a small step back for nature, but a giant step back for humankind". He certainly has a pretension to insinuate modern human arrogance because with technological sophistication as a result of his rationality, they have felt conquered the universe, when the soles of the astronaut Neil Alden Armstrong first set foot on the Moon. But when faced with natural disasters on their own Earth, humans are helpless. The inspiration of these contemporary marxist thinkers is our need to reflect critically on humanity's sense of superiority over nature / the environment, an anthropocentrism. All advances in modern technology have indeed managed to spoil us, which, according to the great British sociologist Anthony Giddens: fosters an ontological comfort. But behind all the splendor, in fact modern human activities tend to "hurt nature". On behalf of the ideology of progress (developmentalism) nature is only positioned as a subordinate, as an object that is considered legitimate to be exploited. This also happens to tourism development. Modern tourism relies on an ideology of progress like this, which focuses on the logic of growth. Tourism success is referred to by statistics showing an increase in tourist numbers. Thus, applies a kind of collective convention among tourism stakeholders that the indicator of success is the number of tourists who come. Though not necessarily "those who come are those who bring money", to spend. There is a kind of mistaken thinking, intellectual cul de sacs, if a lot of guests who come will be directly proportional to the amount of money earned by the host. In fact, many tourists only cause problems. Nowadays, at least in the pre-pandemic era, it was widely reported that bad tourist behavior: demanding, feeling more informed (arrogant), and some committing criminal practices. The logic of growth in the number of visits is more like a myth than a logos.

Thus, our first deconstruction effort is aimed at the myth of the logic of growth which is the main discourse of tourism practices, especially in Indonesia. Through the covid-19 pandemic, we are asked to reflect again on the way our tourism is too capitalistic, with the myths of the logic of its growth and alienation of nature. Going forward, it is necessary to reposition the natural status of the tourism sector, from objects to subjects. The implication is that nature needs to be considered as one of the elements of tourism stakeholders, who are currently too anthropocentric (the government, tourism entrepreneurs, and local people: look, even all humans!). This co-19 attack has at least made us aware, as human beings, that before nature we are only a tiny speck of dust in the mechanism of natural evolution that has been going on for millions of years, and that is still ongoing today! From this point, the co-19 pandemic can be a blessing in disguise, when we are given enough time to reflect the direction of tourism development going forward. There has been an accelerating shift in the paradigm of tourism development from growth to quality.

The second deconstruction of the great discourse that is currently happening is the apparent millennial potential as the main driving actor in post-pandemic tourism. The limitation of physical activity outside the home causes the millennials to make various efforts to get rid of boredom. Fortunately, the limitation period for physical activity occurred in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0, a discourse that is sinking at this time even though previously very aggressively echoed. Millennials take many advantages from this revolution, with the massive internet-based technology with various supporting devices. Thus, collaboration between millennial characteristics tends to be multi-tasking, creative, a high level of curiosity, and a show of existence (hoping for viruses) with technological developments that support it (the rise of social media applications and the availability of internet networks, and the ease of getting artificial-based gadgets intelegent). This combination results in extraordinary productivity in the creative path, such as the rise of content from various applications that are enlivened by millennials (Instagram, YouTube, Tik-Tok, etc.). What is the significance of this excitement for tourism?

Blessing in disguise is that these young people indirectly learn about the most basic tourism concept: Leisure and Recreation (L&R). Fields of study which have been underestimated and are less prestigious than studies of the development and impact on tourism disciplines. Though it can be said L&R is "the mother of tourism", because it provides a foundation for further studies. In brief, L&R discusses the basic human needs associated with the time dimension. Thus, in the L&R study there are three basic human needs, namely the need for rest, the need for work, and the need for leisure. These needs if related to the time each human has will be transformed into biological time, productive time, and leisure time. This use of leisure time if filled with activities will be called recreation. Recreation itself consists of various types, depending on the form of activities carried out, the distance traveled, and the time used. Tourism activities are one type of recreation. If viewed from the perspective of L&R, in fact tourism activities (from the basic concept), are not dead.

Millennials still celebrate by carrying out various creative activities from the base of their residence. And, in addition to having fun to get rid of boredom, they also easily get access to information through their gadgets, related to co-19 trends and various reviews about their impact on tourism. Millennials learn about safety standards, new social ethics, and respect for fighters in the health sector, as well as punishment for violators. In contrast to the character of the previous generation who were relatively passive in responding to the news, the social media of the millennials tended to be more expressive. There is a kind of "democratization of information" through mechanisms and "viral" logic. Through this mechanism, social sanctions, both positive and negative, will be immediate and direct based on the participation of netizens. The challenge of millennials is of course facing the phenomenon of "post-truth", a discourse that departs from a typical epistemology: what is true is what is believed ". But with this pandemic, millennials will get another luxury: time to gather more intensively with family. That is, genetic-based discussion rooms will be more open, sharing among family members is certainly more qualified than those seeking external personal references. The intimacy of family institutions will be a filter for post-truth, with the increasingly strong values ​​and norms of society transformed through this institution. Instead there will be a phenomenon of mutual learning between generations through more intensive and massive family institutions. We will get the next generation that is forged by the crisis. History proves that every generation that emerged after the crisis (whether world war, economic recession, or natural disasters) is a formidable figure. For the tourism sector, post covid will be awaited by millennials, and it can even be said to be the era of the rise of millennials, who are waiting for time to express themselves in the social space with various lessons learned during the pandemic. It is interesting to wait for all their creativity as “legitimate children of this era”, especially in the field of tourism. It is believed, in their hands all conservatism in the administration of tourism will be deconstructed, because only them who are able to see the "hidden text" of the mainstream tourism discourse. Indonesian tourism awaits their progress. Yes, millennials power, as A Post Covid Generation!