Future strategies for tourism destination management: post COVID-19 lessons observed from Borobudur, Indonesia

PurposeThe purpose of this viewpoint paper is to show practical post COVID-19 observations as lessons for the future of tourism destination management and help inspire the tourism industry and academic community.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on observations by, and discussions among, both international and Indonesian tourism experts and relate to the case of the famous UNESCO World heritage site, the Borobudur temple, in Indonesia.FindingsAs a result, the authors observed the following measures that have been taken by the local authorities; setting limits to the amount of visitors, increase the visitor area, provide guided tours only, work with price mechanism, mitigate the physical impacts of visits and involve the local community in the value chain. The paper shows that the COVID pandemic has unintentionally created urgency and an opportunity for the local authorities to deal with already ongoing and structural overtourism related issues. This demonstrated that a lockdown was needed to get out of a lock-in.Originality/valueThis paper fits in the ongoing debate on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector. As it provides a practical case, the values of this paper lie in bridging the gap between conceptual contributions to the debate and practical observations. Also many links with the continuation of the overtourism debate are made.