AIEST has continued to adapt to changing academic and industry conditions. New initiatives, such as a Think Tank, were established to address pressing strategic issues in tourism. Today, AIEST remains an independent scientific society. It addresses critical topics such as sustainability, resilience, and crisis management, often ahead of mainstream policy debates. Its early engagement with environmental issues and its timely analysis during the Covid-19 pandemic exemplify its continuing relevance.

While smaller in size than many international organisations, AIEST maintains influence through intellectual leadership, interdisciplinary thinking, and the quality of its members. Its future lies in remaining independent, conceptually strong, and academically rigorous in an increasingly complex and fragile global tourism system.

AIEST entered a deliberate transition phase aimed at safeguarding relevance and academic credibility. Initial efforts focused on organisational continuity, leadership renewal, and stabilising membership. At the turn of the millennium, major reforms were introduced. English became the sole working language, and a double-blind peer review system was adopted for Tourism Review. These steps significantly enhanced academic quality and international recognition, but also shifted the association’s centre of gravity towards research-oriented members.

From the late 1980s onwards, AIEST faced significant structural challenges. Globalisation, jet aviation, and the rise of new tourism destinations transformed tourism into a genuinely global industry. At the same time, the establishment of the World Tourism Organization and numerous specialised NGOs reduced AIEST’s unique position as a first mover in international tourism research. Academically, tourism research became increasingly specialised, methodologically rigorous, and fragmented across disciplines. National tourism research societies – often founded by AIEST members themselves – competed for attention and membership. The traditional profile of the “tourism expert” combining theory and practice became increasingly rare.

AIEST had grown into a globally recognised network, illustrated by the large and influential 1974 conference in Languedoc-Roussillon. This period also saw internal debate about AIEST’s future direction. A key strategic question emerged: Whether the association should expand in size and institutional power, or remain an exclusive platform serving its members through intellectual exchange. The choice in favour of exclusivity reaffirmed AIEST’s identity as a scientific society rather than a mass organisation. Despite its relatively small size, AIEST maintained a strong influence through the intellectual standing of its members rather than through bureaucratic or political reach.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, AIEST solidified its position as a premier international forum for tourism research and policy discussions. Its annual conferences addressed public-sector issues such as tourism policy, planning, and development, reflecting the close involvement of national tourism administrations. AIEST made a lasting contribution to knowledge dissemination through its conference proceedings and its academic journal, Tourist Review (later Tourism Review, which was edited by AIEST until 2016). Members played a central role in establishing tourism research and teaching at universities across Europe and beyond, while practitioners within the association transferred academic insights into policy and industry practice. The notion of the “tourism expert” combined academic competence with practical experience as members.

AIEST was founded in the optimistic post-war climate shaped by international cooperation, economic reconstruction, and liberal multilateralism. Hunziker and Krapf – both tourism experts with strong academic and practical credentials – were deeply influenced by the emerging post-war order, including the Marshall Plan, the OEEC (later OECD), and the recognition of tourism as a tool for economic recovery. A preparatory conference took place in Lugano in 1949, followed by the first official AIEST conference in Rome in 1951. The association brought together senior figures from academia, public administration, and the tourism industry, at a time when almost all international tourism occurred within industrialised Western countries. AIEST positioned itself as an independent scientific society. It aimed to promote tourism research, advise policy-makers, and establish tourism as a recognised academic discipline. The association adopted Swiss civil law as its legal framework, ensuring lean governance and long-term continuity. The association also took over the multilingual system of intergovernmental organisations: French, English, Spanish, and German were official languages.