Tourism Industry during Pandemic COVID-19: History
View Latest Version
Please note this is an old version of this entry, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Subjects: Economics
Contributor:
Anca Antoaneta Bocean-Vărzaru

The tourism industry has always been affected by natural disasters or health crises, but the effects were local and could be combated. The global nature of the COVID-19 crisis has caused a domino effect that has profoundly affected the entire industry at the systemic level. Combating these effects can no longer be done through individual, local measures; a systemic approach is needed to manage the crisis better. There are also positive implications of the COVID-19 crisis on tourism in developed countries that have better addressed the health crisis. Given the traffic restrictions across borders, tourists will choose local facilities that will positively affect national tourism. Less developed countries, which are severely affected by the health crisis and have relied heavily on international tourism, are experiencing a sharp decline in the tourism industry.

  • tourism
  • Covid-19 pandemic
  • sustainability

1. Crisis and Tourism

Crisis research that has affected the tourism industry is segmented and lacks holistic approaches due to the variety of crises and practices adopted to deal with them [1] and has led to a knowledge gap on the intensity of the impact of problems on the tourism industry [1]. Crisis management in tourism has been treated mainly in a national or regional context, the triggering element having a varied nature such as natural disasters [2], epidemics [3][4][5][6], or social disorders [7]. If the response to the crisis was reactive in the past, research has expanded in recent years, which proposes a proactive response based on communication, information, and confidence in crisis management [1][6].

Over time, tourism has experienced a multitude of challenges that have endangered its sustainability, such as mass tourism [8], overload of tourist destinations [9], external control [10], and affecting local communities [11]. Moreover, because in some well-known destinations, the number of tourists often exceeds the population, tourism produces strong effects on society [10][11][12].

The effects of a highly contagious virus-generated pandemic have been the subject of much research over time. Hung et al. [13] investigated the impact of SARS in 2003 and H1N1 in 2009 on the tourism industry in Hong Kong. Hung et al. [13] appreciated that the operators in the tourism industry retreated very quickly and adopted a recovery plan to cause as minor damage as possible. Other authors [14] have analyzed the impact of the 2003 SARS epidemic on Hong Kong hotels and airlines and stressed the importance of establishing contingency plans for a speedy recovery after the epidemiological outbreak. However, this kind of research is limited at the national level, given the small extent of SARS disease in 2003. Kim et al. [4] emphasized the importance of contingency plans in the effective management of the SARS crisis in South Korea in 2003, calling for the establishment of a crisis management system and training of decision-makers and the general population on how to deal with the sanitary crisis. South Korea was one of the countries that best managed the situation caused by COVID-19, given its previous experience and lessons learned.

2. COVID-19 Pandemic and Tourism

Research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism, tourism resilience, and recovery policies and strategies are in progress, being both conceptual [15][16][17][18] and empirical [18] but rare due to scarcity of data. Although vaccination campaigns are remarkably successful, the pandemic is not yet under control. In addition, mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus (South African, Brazilian, Indian) increase the unpredictability of the pandemic, making research crucial to facilitate the recovery of tourism and its associated industries [19].

According to Gössling [20], the pandemic caused by COVID-19 is a significant challenge for the whole world. Due to the lack of a vaccine and the limited medical possibilities to treat this disease throughout 2020, hygiene measures, social distancing, quarantine, and traffic restrictions have been the primary strategy to combat the pandemic. Unprecedented global travel and lockdown limits have had the worst adverse effects on the global economy since World War II. As a result of social distancing measures and regulations on domestic and international traffic, tourism has been virtually stopped for a few months from March 2020 worldwide. Data on flights, cruises, and accommodation was catastrophic. Tourism was the economic branch that proved most vulnerable to measures to combat the pandemic.

Higgins-Desbioles [21] believes that the pandemic generated by COVID-19 will change the tourism industry and the environment in which it operates. This global crisis may be a source of opportunity to identify new possibilities, and the problematic situation is an additional argument for accepting changes in tourism business models towards sustainability. One of the critical effects that the COVID-19 pandemic had on tourism was accelerating the digitization of processes in the tourism industry, as stated by some authors [22]. Another spillover effect of the pandemic crisis on the global economy and environment was reducing GHG emissions caused by decreasing travel [23]. This side effect can be, at the same time, an opportunity to rethink sustainable tourism models. However, a more responsible and sustainable approach to tourism will not be enough to provide the opportunities that make such a reset of tourism possible. Tourism needs to be redefined and redirected, taking into account the rights and interests of communities and national interests.

According to Niewiadomski [24], the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped the entire tourism sector for several months. Its full resumption after the end of the pandemic will not be the same as in the pre-pandemic period. Niewiadomski [24] and Mangra et al. [25] consider that temporary deglobalization offers tourism an unprecedented opportunity to develop respecting the principles of sustainable development by combating over-tourism that generates extremely adverse effects such as environmental destruction, economic exploitation, or overpopulation.

From an economic and social point of view, the tourism industry is an extensive employer. Still, accurate estimates are difficult due to the seasonality of many tourism activities and the high percentage of undeclared work. Nevertheless, there are estimates that the hotel industry worldwide has about 212 million people, of whom about 50 million have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 crisis [26]. In the European Union, almost 13.6 million people are employed in the tourism industry [27], while in the US, about 14 million [28]. Furthermore, in these regions, the percentage of job losses was about 25%. In addition to the social effects, the share in GDP of the tourist activity mediates substantial economic effects [29]. In the European Union, 10 of the 27 countries register shares in GDP of the tourist activity higher than 10%.

Several authors [30][31][21] believe that the lessons learned from the crisis can put tourism on a more sustainable footing, addressing sensitive issues such as over-tourism, climate change, and the systemic approach to development models on which the tourism industry is based [20][28][32]. However, there are rumors that tourism operators will start a substantial recovery program when most restrictions are removed [33], being less concerned about social and environmental issues but economic ones, ensuring their survival. Small tourism companies, which are usually susceptible to actions in the direction of sustainability, will not have the capacity to support the change of business models in a more sustainable approach without incentives from government authorities.

There have been early approaches on the COVID-19 crisis effects [20], which highlighted the challenge of transition to a sustainable way. Authors such as Di Marco et al. [34] have suggested serious links between the changes that man causes in the environment and the emergence of infectious diseases. It is necessary to take these links into account in sustainable development planning both in tourism and in general, economic and social.

3. The Opportunity for Sustainable Tourism

Implementing a vision of sustainable development in tourism has aroused great interest, especially in recent years [27][35]. However, Ertuna et al. [36] point out that research on the implementation of a sustainable vision in the field of tourism is not very extensive, emphasizing the need for such research. The studies focused on distinct areas of the tourism industry: the hotel sector [37], the organization of cruises [38], the activity of restaurants [39], theme parks [40], the organization of events [41], and less on the entire tourist activity [9]. However, several papers study how sustainability has been addressed in the hospitality industry, papers that propose research topics or frameworks to underpin sustainability in tourism [41][42][43][44][45]. Gössling and Hall [42] show that tourism has a significant contribution to global climate change, although, through ecotourism, tourism can also positively change the environment on a small scale.

Within the tourism sector, the effects of natural disasters or other fortuitous cases bring up to date sustainability issues [46][47][48]. However, all these works adopted a local, regional, or national research level, given the magnitude of emergencies affecting tourism. Although these works have studied the effects of pandemics on tourism, they have focused on the impact of pandemics on tourism in different countries and have not provided a systemic view [20]. There are fears that the crisis generated by COVID-19 will lead to a shift in efforts, including financial ones, from supporting sustainability to ensuring resilience, especially economic ones. However, some authors [27] show that sustainability can be about restoring and consolidating the tourism industry by providing a cleaner natural environment that offers more tourism opportunities and uses human capital throughout its value.

Although there have been opinions that tourism has excellent resilience and ability to adapt to catastrophic or unexpected events and to recover quickly, the economic and health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has put the tourism industry under a severe stress test [49]. Several views warn of the unsustainability of the sector (lack of a long-term vision that considers social and environmental vectors), leading to an increase in recurrent risks of climate change and global health problems [50]. Under the current conditions in which the sector needs to be reset, substantial structural changes are required for the tourism sector based on sustainable development models. The industry’s sustainability will also ensure its resilience in the face of crises of such magnitude as the pandemic caused by COVID-19 [51][52][53]. Gössling et al. [54] showed that the COVID-19 pandemic had generated a vulnerability of jobs in tourism, especially in small, low-income countries [54]. In terms of global changes, the global pandemic offered a lesson to the tourism industry, politicians, and researchers, but at the same time paved the way for new opportunities. The challenge facing tourism is to turn the crisis into an opportunity to accelerate sustainable tourism transformation.

Fletcher et al. [55] suggest that even after the declaration of the end of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, the world does not allow itself to return to previous levels and tourism patterns. Excessive mass tourism causes damage to the environment (including pollution and resource depletion) due to unsustainable tourism. Despite the uncertainties that the health and economic crisis has induced in the tourism industry, one of the essential consequences has been the consolidation of local tourism, especially domestic tourism [56].

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/su13126956

References

  1. Pforr, C. Tourism in Post-Crisis is Tourism in Pre-Crisis: A Review of the Literature on Crisis Management in Tourism. 2006. Available online: (accessed on 1 May 2021).
  2. Ghaderi, Z.; Henderson, J.C. Japanese tsunami debris and the threat to sustainable tourism in the Hawaiian Islands. Tour. Manag. Perspect. 2008, 8, 98–105.
  3. Cooper, M. Japanese Tourism and the SARS Epidemic of 2003. J. Travel Tour. Mark. 2006, 19, 117–131.
  4. Kim, S.S.; Chun, H.; Lee, H. The effects of SARS on the Korean hotel industry and measures to overcome the crisis: A case study of six Korean five-star hotels. Asia Pac. J. Tour. Res. 2006, 10, 369–377.
  5. Zeng, B.; Carter, R.W.; Lacy, T.D. Short-term Perturbations and Tourism Effects: The Case of SARS in China. Curr. Issues Tour. 2006, 8, 306–322.
  6. Pforr, C.; Hosie, P.J. Crisis Management in Tourism. J. Travel Tour. Mark. 2008, 23, 249–264.
  7. Avraham, E. Destination image repair during crisis: Attracting tourism during the Arab Spring uprisings. Tour. Manag. 2015, 47, 224–232.
  8. Butler, R.W. Sustainable tourism: A state-of-the-art review. Tour. Geogr. 1999, 1, 7–25.
  9. Jorgensen, M.T.; McKercher, B. Sustainability and integration—The principal challenges to tourism and tourism research. J. Travel Tour. Mark. 2019, 36, 905–916.
  10. Veiga, C.; Santos, M.C.; Águas, P.; Santos, J.A.C. Are millennials transforming global tourism? Challenges for destinations and companies. Worldw. Hosp. Tour. Themes 2017, 9, 603–616.
  11. Gössling, S. Global environmental consequences of tourism. Glob. Environ.Chang. 2002, 12, 283–302.
  12. Oklevik, O.; Gössling, S.; Hall, C.M.; Jacobsen, J.K.; Grotte, I.P.; McCabe, S. Overtourism, optimisation, and destination performance indicators: A case study of activities in Fjord Norway. J. Sustain. Tour. 2019, 27, 1804–1824.
  13. Hung, K.K.C.; Carman, K.M.M.; Yeung, M.P.S.; Chan, E.Y.Y.; Graham, C.A. The role of the hotel industry in the response to emerging epidemics: A case study of SARS in 2003 and H1N1 swine flu in 2009 in Hong Kong. Glob. Health 2018, 14, 117.
  14. Pine, R.; McKercher, B. The impact of SARS on Hong Kong’s tourism industry. Int. J. Hosp. Manag. 2004, 16, 139–143.
  15. Hao, F.; Xiao, Q.; Chon, K. COVID-19 and China’s hotel industry: Impacts, a disaster management framework, and post-pandemic agenda. Int. J. Hosp. Manag. 2020, 90, 102636.
  16. Nicola, M.; Alsafi, Z.; Sohrabi, C.; Kerwan, A.; Al-Jabir, A.; Iosifidis, C.; Agha, M.; Agha, R. The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19): A review. Int. J. Surg. 2020, 78, 185–193.
  17. Gursoy, D.; Chi, C.G. Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on hospitality industry: Review of the current situations and a research agenda. J. Hosp. Mark. Manag. 2020, 29, 527–529.
  18. Hu, X.; Yan, H.; Casey, T.; Wu, C.H. Creating a safe haven during the crisis: How organizations can achieve deep compliance with COVID-19 safety measures in the hospitality industry. Int. J. Hosp. Manag. 2021, 92, 102662.
  19. Chang, C.L.; McAleer, M.; Ramos, V. A charter for sustainable tourism after COVID-19. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3671.
  20. Gössling, S. Risks, resilience, and pathways to sustainable aviation: A COVID-19 perspective. J. Air Transp. Manag. 2020, 89, 101933.
  21. Higgins-Desbiolles, F. The End of Global Travel as We Know It: An Opportunity for Sustainable Tourism. The Conversation. Available online: (accessed on 1 May 2021).
  22. Antonio, N.; Rita, P. COVID 19: The catalyst for digital transformation in the hospitality industry? Tour. Manag. Stud. 2021, 17, 41–46.
  23. Abbas, J.; Mubeen, R.; Iorember, P.T.; Raza, S.; Mamirkulova, G. Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on tourism: Transformational potential and implications for a sustainable recovery of the travel and leisure industry. Curr. Res. Behav. Sci. 2021, 2, 100033.
  24. Niewiadomski, P. COVID-19: From temporary de-globalisation to a re-discovery of tourism? Tour. Geogr. 2020, 22, 651–656.
  25. Mangra, M.G.; Stanciu, M.; Mangra, I.G. Globalization—A contradictory but offensive process. Land Forces Acad. Rev. 2009, 14, 81–87.
  26. Dogra, S. COVID-19: Impact on the Hospitality Workforce. EHL Insight. Available online: (accessed on 28 April 2021).
  27. Williams, C.C.; Horodnic, I.A. Tackling Undeclared Work in the Tourism Sector. European Plaform Tackling Undeclared Work. 2020. Available online: (accessed on 17 April 2021).
  28. BrandonGaille. 17 Hospitality Industry Employment Statistics. Available online: (accessed on 9 April 2021).
  29. Jones, P.; Comfort, D. The COVID-19 crisis and sustainability in the hospitality industry. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag. 2020, 32, 3037–3050.
  30. Muller, T. Why the Corona Virus Crisis Is a Unique and Once in a Lifetime Opportunity for Destinations and the Tourism Industry. VoyagesAfriq. 2020. Available online: (accessed on 1 April 2021).
  31. Sustainability Leaders Project. Corona Pandemic: What it Means for the Sustainable Tourism Community. Sustainability Leaders. Available online: (accessed on 1 April 2021).
  32. Smith, J. Does Coronavirus Have Any Lessons for Sustainable Tourism? World Travel Market. Available online: (accessed on 23 April 2021).
  33. Elliott, C. What Will Travel Be Like After the Coronavirus? Forbes. Available online: (accessed on 23 April 2021).
  34. Di Marco, M.; Baker, M.L.; Daszak, P.; De Barro, P.; Eskew, E.A.; Godde, C.M.; Harwood, T.D.; Herrero, M.; Hoskins, A.J.; Johnson, E.; et al. Opinion: Sustainable development must account for pandemic risk. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2020, 117, 3888–3892. Available online: (accessed on 13 April 2021).
  35. Jones, P.; Hillier, D.; Comfort, D. Sustainability in the hospitality industry: Some personal reflections on corporate challenges and research agendas. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag. 2016, 28, 36–67.
  36. Ertuna, B.; Karatas-Ozkan, M.; Yamak, S. Diffusion of sustainability and CSR discourse in hospitality industry: Dynamics of local context. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag. 2019, 31, 2564–2581.
  37. Guix-Navarrete, M.; Bonilla-Priego, M.J.; Font, X. Materiality: How hotel groups choose the content of their sustainability reports. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag. 2019, 31, 2321–3233.
  38. Bonilla-Priego, M.J.; Font, X.; Pacheco-Olivares, M.D.-R. Corporate sustainability reporting index and baseline data for the cruise industry. Tour. Manag. 2014, 44, 149–160.
  39. Cavagnaro, E.; Gehrels, S.A. Sweet and sour grapes: Implementing sustainability in the hospitality industry—A case study. J. Culin. Sci. Technol. 2009, 7, 181–195.
  40. Milman, A.; Okumus, F.; Dickson, D. The contribution of theme parks and attractions to the economic and social sustainability of destinations. Worldw. Hosp. Tour. Themes 2010, 2, 338–345.
  41. Boggia, A.; Massei, G.; Paolotti, L.; Rocchi, L.; Schiavi, F.A. model for measuring the environmental sustainability of events. J. Environ. Manag. 2018, 206, 836–845.
  42. Gössling, S.; Hall, M.C. Tourism and Global Environmental Change; Taylor & Francis: Abingdon, UK, 2006.
  43. MacKenzie, N.; Gannon, M.J. Exploring the antecedents of sustainable tourism. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag. 2019, 31, 2411–2427.
  44. Jones, P.; Wynn, M.G. The circular economy, natural capital and resilience in tourism and hospitality. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag. 2019, 31, 2544–2563.
  45. Boluk, K.A.; Cavaliere, C.T.; Higgins-Desbiolles, F. A critical framework for interrogating the united nations sustainable development goals 2030 agenda in tourism. J. Sustain. Tour. 2019, 27, 847–864.
  46. de Sausmarez, N. Crisis management, tourism, and sustainability: The role of indicators. J. Sustain. Tour. 2007, 15, 700–714.
  47. Loperana, C.A. Honduras is open for business: Extractivist tourism as sustainable development in the wake of disaster? J. Sustain. Tour. 2016, 25, 618–633.
  48. Seraphin, H. Natural disaster and destination management: The case of the Caribbean and hurricane Irma. Curr. Issues Tour. 2018, 2, 21–28.
  49. Romagosa, F. The COVID-19 crisis: Opportunities for sustainable and proximity tourism. Tour. Geogr. 2020, 22, 690–694.
  50. Jamal, T.; Budke, C. Tourism in a world with pandemics: Local-global responsibility and action. J. Tour. Futures 2020, 6, 181–188.
  51. Bosak, K. Tourism, Development, and Sustainability. In Reframing Sustainable Tourism; McCool, S., Bosak, K., Eds.; Environmental Challenges and Solutions; Springer: Dordrecht, The Netherland, 2016; Volume 2.
  52. Cheer, J.M.; Lew, A.A. Tourism Resilience and Sustainability: Adapting to Social, Political and Economic Change; Routledge: Oxfordshire, UK, 2017.
  53. Hall, C.M.; Prayag, G.; Amore, A. Tourism and Resilience: Individual, Organisational and Destination Perspectives; Channel View Publications: Bristol, UK, 2018.
  54. Gössling, S.; Scott, D.; Hall, C.M. Pandemics, tourism and global change: A rapid assessment of COVID-19. J. Sustain. Tour. 2020, 29.
  55. Fletcher, R.; Mas, I.M.; Blazquez-Salom, M.; Blanco-Romero, A. Tourism, Degrowth, and the COVID-19 Crisis. Political Ecology Network. Available online: (accessed on 1 April 2021).
  56. Jurado, E.N.; Palomo, G.O.; Bernier, E.T. Propuestas de Reflexion Desde el Turismo Frente al COVID-19. Incertidumbre, Impacto y Recuperacion. Universidad de Malaga. Available online: (accessed on 14 March 2021).
More
© Text is available under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
This entry is offline, you can click here to edit this entry!
Feedback