Since we have moved to basically service economies based on tourism, the question then becomes: Can tourism fill the gap that industry should have filled? What, for example, are the scientific requirements of the tourism industry which could provide higher levels of productivity and lower costs to make the industry internationally competitive?
In addition, since the tourism industry is international in scope, what innovations and applications developed for our industry can be sold to other destinations? The role of tourism in terms of linkages, both backward and forward, as well as its possibilities as a launching pad for exporting goods and services to the source countries, is one that should be seriously explored.