The Concept of Sustainable Rural Tourism Development in the Face of COVID-19 Crisis: Evidence from Russia

The benefits of tourism for rural community development

While the main benefits of rural tourism have been studied extensively, most of these studies have focused on the development of sustainable rural tourism. The role of tourism contributions to rural community development remains unexplored. Little is known about what tourism contribution dimensions are available for policy-makers and how these dimensions affect rural tourism contributions. Without a clear picture and indication of what benefits rural tourism can provide for rural communities, policy-makers might not invest limited resources in such projects. The objectives of this study are threefold. First, we outline a rural tourism contribution model that policy-makers can use to support tourism-based rural community development. Second, we address several methodological limitations that undermine current sustainability model development and recommend feasible methodological solutions. Third, we propose a six-step theoretical procedure as a guideline for constructing a valid contribution model. We find four primary attributes of rural tourism contributions to rural community development; economic, sociocultural, environmental, and leisure and educational, and 32 subattributes. Ultimately, we confirm that economic benefits are the most significant contribution. Our findings have several practical and methodological implications and could be used as policy-making guidelines for rural community development.

Management of Smart and Sustainable Cities in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Lessons and Implications

Nowadays, the concept of smart sustainable governance is wrapped around basic principles such as: (i) transparency, (ii) accountability, (iii) stakeholders’ involvement, and iv) citizens’ participation. It is through these principles that are influenced by information and communication technologies (ICT), Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence, that the practices employed by citizens and their interaction with electronic government (e-government) are diversified. Previously, the misleading concepts of the smart city implied only the objective of the local level or public officials to utilize technology. However, the recent European experience and research studies have led to a more comprehensive notion that refers to the search for intelligent solutions which allow modern sustainable cities to enhance the quality of services provided to citizens and to improve the management of urban mobility. The smart city is based on the usage of connected sensors, data management, and analytics platforms to improve the quality and functioning of built-environment systems. The aim of this paper is to understand the effects of the pandemic on smart cities and to accentuate major exercises that can be learned for post-COVID sustainable urban management and patterns. The lessons and implications outlined in this paper can be used to enforce social distancing community measures in an effective and timely way, and to optimize the use of resources in smart and sustainable cities in critical situations. The paper offers a conceptual overview and serves as a stepping-stone to extensive research and the deployment of sustainable smart city platforms and intelligent transportation systems (a sub-area of smart city applications) after the COVID-19 pandemic using a case study from Russia. Overall, our results demonstrate that the COVID-19 crisis encompasses an excellent opportunity for urban planners and policy makers to take transformative actions towards creating cities that are more intelligent and sustainable.

Sustainable Tourism Issues in European Countries during the Global Pandemic Crisis

Sustainable economic growth can be achieved through tourism by protecting the environment, maintaining natural resources, creating employment, improving cultural diversity, and recognizing cultural heritage values. The concept of tourism sustainability is gradually growing globally and becoming a dominant aspect in modern business, as companies need to meet stakeholders’ demands regarding environmental management. Sustainable tourism incorporates environmental, social, economic, and cultural issues into operations. The demand for green tourism, ethical consumption, protection of natural resources, and living close to nature is expected to increase. In particular, the latter gains more and more popularity due to the stress caused by the global pandemic and also because values have been re-evaluated at every level of society. In this paper, we explore sustainability in the tourism industry within the international context during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on tourism in 35 European countries for the period between January 2020 and September 2021. We aimed to study the impact of tourism on sustainability based on the Eurostat database, using cluster analysis and descriptive statistics. The results indicate that tourism will recover slightly, even though the pandemic will continue, recording different effects in European countries. Furthermore, we highlight the relationship between income and tourism, the clusters on tourism being significantly different according to income. The results also identify potential recovery options to align this business area with global sustainable development goals, generate effective transformational change, and suggest how to create a viable growth process pushed by a glocal perspective.

Sustainability of Serbian Villages in COVID-19 Pandemic Conditions

The subject of this paper is to determine how the COVID-19 virus pandemic affected the situation in Serbian villages. The task of the paper is to show the positive and negative consequences that resulted from the pandemic. This would indicate that some of them may represent a new idea, a chance, or would work in favor of the sustainability of the villages of Serbia. In support of objectivity, research was carried out among the population that inhabits the rural areas of Serbia. It examined the extent to which internationally recognized phenomena and consequences of the COVID-19 virus pandemic were present in the study area and considered the nature of their impact on sustainability. The results of the semi-structured questionnaire were processed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Respondents contributed to the conception of possible solutions with their comments. The obtained differences in the answers resulted from different socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, but also from the fact that the villages of Serbia differ in natural and social characteristics. Respondents’ responses are in favor of economic and sociodemographic sustainability, but they do not think in terms of environmental sustainability. The paper reveals several development opportunities, which complement each other and contribute to different methods for sustainability of rural villages in Serbia.

Tourism Perspectives in National Parks—A Hungarian Case Study from the Aspects of Rural Development

Nature-based tourism has become increasingly popular in recent years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted the tourism sector and triggered contradictory processes, even in protected areas. This phenomenon opens up new opportunities for nature-based tourism from the perspective of rural development. In this study, we assess the relations between tourism and nature conservation and examine the characteristics of practical cooperation in three Hungarian national parks. Based on in-depth interviews (n = 76), document review, and analysis of tourism-related data, our research proves that nature-based tourism could play an essential role in rural development, but this is far from being fulfilled. None of the sectors have been able to impact the comprehensive development of the rural areas concerned. We conclude that sectoral partnership is inadequate, and there is no effective policy coordination. There is a lack of multiday tourism programs, and the currently available tourism infrastructure is insufficient. Initiatives such as the national park product trademark exist but are not well managed, so they do not have a meaningful impact. The results point out that cross-sector collaboration must be strengthened after the epidemic to provide a basis for policy coordination and joint planning.

The Effect of Risk, R&D Intensity, Liquidity, and Inventory on Firm Performance during COVID-19: Evidence from US Manufacturing Industry

Because prior knowledge may not generalize to the COVID-19 setting, scholars are racing to test the efficacy of existing theoretical frameworks during COVID-19. Most business studies are conceptual or surveys of damage. The main purpose of the paper is to extend the forthcoming stream that tests firm performance by examining it during COVID-19. We examine the sales growth of 1298 US manufacturers during COVID-19 compared to their pre-COVID-19 baselines. Riskier firms with higher R&D intensities performed better during COVID-19, especially when cash-to-inventory levels were low. This study is among the first to empirically identify actionable predictors of firm performance during COVID-19 via a quantitative analysis of strategies and performance outcomes. Understanding what type of firms perform at higher levels during COVID-19 will help decision makers make more informed decisions moving forward. Employing ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to test our hypotheses, our findings suggest that R&D intensive firms should pivot tactically regarding current asset management, if needed, but not strategically, while prioritizing inventory versus cash retention. The positive effect of inventory versus cash extends theory by suggesting a new boundary condition related to pandemics that reverses the positive link between cash and performance found during crises with more conventional levels of turbulence. Our most important contribution, however, is practical, via the testing of predictors that can help firms during COVID-19. For example, we found that firms with higher levels of operating risk experienced 60 percent more sales growth than risk-averse firms. This knowledge that risk-taking predicted performance during COVID-19 (especially when coupled with a focus on R&D intensity and inventory level) may encourage those that can adopt less risk-averse strategies, while others focus on tactical adjustments or mitigative measures during COVID-19 and future black swan events.

Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Travel Decision-Making of Poles and Nepalis during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aimed to present the socio-economic conditions, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their effects on travel decision-making. Data were collected in January and February 2021 using an online questionnaire survey. We compared the data on personal attributes, socio-economic factors, and organizational-related factors of 957 Polish and 181 Nepalese respondents. We found that people would like to travel, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, in both countries; however, tourism in developed countries is expected to revive earlier than in developing countries. Tourists chose natural and rustic areas for travel destinations and family members and friends as travel companions in both countries. Similarly, the use of travel agencies decreased significantly as compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic in both countries. Levels of income and travel motivation were observed to be different between the two countries. Respondents from both countries similarly believed that the overall cost of travel had increased during the pandemic. Therefore, policymakers and authorities of tourism destinations should jointly introduce discounted or subsidized packages targeting family members.

Rural Tourism: Does It Matter for Sustainable Farmers’ Income?

With the continuous promotion of China’s new rural construction, rural tourism is considered to be an important driving force to promote the sustainable development of rural economy. Sustainable farmers’ income is a major part of the sustainable development of rural economy. Therefore, this paper attempts to explore the effect of rural tourism on sustainable farmers’ income. Using China’s provincial panel data over the period of 2003 to 2020 and employing the mediation effect model to perform empirical analysis, four results are obtained: (1) rural tourism positively and significantly affects sustainable farmers’ income. However, among five kinds of farmers’ income, the coefficients in magnitude are different. (2) A mediation effect of rural ecological environment on the relationship between rural tourism and sustainable farmers’ income exists. (3) A mediation effect of urbanization on the relationship between rural tourism and sustainable farmers’ income also exists. (4) On the whole, the mediation effect of rural ecological environment on the relationship between rural tourism and sustainable farmers’ income is less than that of the mediation effect of urbanization. Based on the evidence this paper provides, corresponding suggestions are raised to promote sustainable farmers’ income.

Coping with COVID-19: The Resilience and Transformation of Community-Based Tourism in Brunei Darussalam

The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted the travel and tourism industry, economies, livelihoods, public services, and opportunities globally. This is also observed in the small country of Brunei. As one of the few countries that have successfully mitigated COVID-19 transmissions, Brunei is slowly rebuilding its tourism industry through its community-based tourism (CBT). Following Sharma et al.’s resilience-based framework for reviving the tourism industry post-COVID-19 established in 2021, this study incorporates responses from semi-structured interviews with 16 local CBT owners on the challenges, the management, and the CBT initiatives during the height of the pandemic until today. These initiatives include diversifying more tour packages and utilising local resources and products. Despite the lockdown imposed by the government, which suspended businesses and restricted all travelling, local CBT operations flourished, generated more income for the owners, and created job opportunities for the community. Such efforts have caused the public to appreciate local cultures, the environment, and ultimately increase CBT experiences in the country. While shedding light on Brunei’s unique management of its tourism industry during the pandemic, this paper also demonstrates theoretical and conceptual contributions to the recent literature of resilient and transformational tourism and provide suggestions on how to manage CBT operations during these challenging times.

Russian Tourism Enterprises’ Marketing Innovations to Meet the COVID-19 Challenges

This paper discusses the results of a study aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the Russian tourism market and how local tourism enterprises respond to challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Summarizing their experience of doing business in crisis conditions can allow a more efficient response to similar crises in the future and contribute to a more resilient tourism sector in the aftermath of the pandemic. In order to meet the research objective, we combined various sources of operational statistical information about the state of the industry with the results of a survey conducted in the Nizhny Novgorod region and in-depth interviews with representatives of tourism enterprises. We found that Russian tourism enterprises have proved to be quite resilient by looking for additional opportunities, and paying special attention to staff development and team consolidation. However, there are problems faced by local tourism enterprises in obtaining state support. Therefore, tourism enterprises that rely on themselves and innovate to create services and products adjusted to new customer needs and preferences have a better chance to survive. In particular, the wider use of digital marketing instruments helps SMEs to propose a new value for customers aligned to the new requirements and trends in tourism, such as travel security, prevailing interest in individual and short-term trips for short distances, and the sharply increased demand for domestic tourism destinations.