(Re)igniting tourism in cities after COVID: The same old risks of the "new normal"

The current COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected global travel and tourism, particularly international and urban tourism. The spread of the virus and the measures of lockdown in urban areas considerably decreased the flow of international visitors to year-round urban destinations like London, Paris, New York and Shanghai. However, as lockdown measures eased in the second half of 2020, questions should be asked as to whether the rhetoric of "reigniting tourism" is appropriate for urban destinations. Re-opening for summer holiday tourism with an emphasis on a return to “normal”, arguably, poses a threat to urban spaces and a return to pre-COVID tensions as a result of overtourism and tourismphobia. This chapter provides a critique to the emerging narrative in tourism crisis and post-COVID management in urban destinations and calls for alternative approaches to reposition cities as liveable spaces for local communities.