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The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated cracks in the global tourism industry that have been growing in the shadows for some time. Among the many problematic issues historically associated with tourism development in many places, the following are commonly highlighted: unsustainable levels of resource consumption and pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions; social problems, including the rise of movements critical of touristification, drug use and sex work; and lack of economic diversification beyond the sector in populous destinations, coupled with workers’ exploitation via precarious low-wage jobs (see Mowforth & Munt, 2016). While the global lockdown precipitated by the pandemic has notably reduced environmental and social impacts in numerous destinations, at least in the short term, it has greatly exacerbated economic disparities in places dependent on tourism revenue that has all but disappeared due to ongoing (if also constantly oscillating) travel restrictions both within and between societies worldwide. Yet crisis, as always, can also be opportunity. Consequently, a variety of commentators have highlighted the potential to use both the problems and breathing space created by the pandemic as a valuable chance to “reset” or transform the tourism industry to redress the various problems the pandemic has highlighted. In this way, the industry might be steered towards a more sustainable course if and when the pandemic recedes (see especially, Lew et al., 2020). Among such proposals are calls to refocus the industry away from hegemony of the private sector, and the “perverse” incentives this creates to both hoard profit …