Tourism in a Post-COVID-19 Era: Sustainable Strategies for Industry’s Recovery

Insights into climate change dynamics: A tourism climate index-based evaluation of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

The tourism industry is a significant contribution to the economy of many countries, including Pakistan. However, its activities often have a negative impact on the environment, particularly related to climate change. Notably, Pakistan ranks fifth among countries most affected by climate change, which requires a targeted analysis of the tourism sector to determine its potential impacts. Despite the critical nature of this issue, there is currently a lack of research that examines how climate change specifically impacts Pakistan's tourism industry. This study aims to address this gap by using the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) to assess the impact of climate change on the suitability of different tourism locations across the country. Our results show that popular tourist destinations such as Gilgit-Baltistan experience their peak season in the warmer third quarter (summer), which corresponds to the highest observed TCI values. This suggests that warmer temperatures could boost tourism activity and spending in these regions. Furthermore, our analysis shows that air temperature plays a crucial role in determining tourist comfort levels and significantly influences tourists' TCI values and sensory experiences. The results of this study show that the TCI methodology can be an effective tool for further research into the geographical impacts of climate change on tourism. By identifying necessary changes due to climatic changes, future studies could provide valuable insights into how the tourism industry can adapt to and reduce its environmental footprint.

Pre- and post-pandemic risk perceptions and worries

Introduction

The present study is a cross-sectional investigation of worry and risk perceptions regarding various hazards and destinations, measured before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Questionnaire data were collected from tourists in Norway during the summer seasons of 2012 (N = 2,669), 2019 (N = 1,666), and 2022 (N = 956), and from a representative sample of Norwegians in 2020 (N = 1,003).

Results

The results show a general decline in the level of worry and risk perceptions post-pandemic compared to those pre-pandemic, with the exception of infectious diseases, whose perceived risk slightly increased in 2022.

Conclusion

The results highlight the importance of employing cross-sectional or longitudinal data to investigate changes in risk perceptions over time. The findings also indicate that pessimistic predictions of a continued decline in tourism appear to be unwarranted.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Tourist Travel Risk Perception and Travel Behaviour: A Case Study of Poland

This article aims to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perception of the risk of travel and travel behaviour by Poles. The study was conducted using the survey method and the CAWI technique and was carried out in January 2021. The final research sample consisted of 509 respondents. Tourism has always been exposed to various threats: natural disasters, terrorism, etc. In such cases, tourists choose a different, safe direction. However, in 2020, tourism found itself facing a crisis that brought it to a complete stop worldwide. The spread of the COVID-19 virus and safety concerns, as well as global travel restrictions, led to a change in travel during this time. The results show that the respondents resigned especially from going abroad for security reasons, choosing to rather stay in the country and other places that, from their point of view, were safer places to rest.

Measuring the Impact of Greece as a Safe Branding Tourist Destination: Evidence from Spain and Greece

After the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, many tourist destinations promoted a safe, COVID-free image to attract tourists. The main purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze the effect that the image of a place as a safe tourist destination (STD)—in our case, Greece—can have on the decision-making processes of tourists who were willing to take summer holidays in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the relationships between destination safety perceptions, trust, attractive attributes of destinations, travel intentions, and health-protective behavior for domestic and inbound tourists from Spain. This study confirms differences in destination safety perceptions among domestic and inbound tourists from countries that have suffered significant negative impacts due to the novel coronavirus.

Meta-Analysis of Tourism Sustainability Research: 2019–2021

Sustainability in tourism, hospitality, and leisure is a long-standing topic of growing interest. Research in the field of tourism has accelerated over the past decade. The goal of this meta-analysis is to categorize recent research in tourism sustainability to identify patterns and trends, which could help us understand where the field is currently conducting research and where more work may be needed. Over 800 relevant articles published in major tourism journals during a three-year period (2019–2021) were included in the analysis; however, despite the increase in volume of published tourism sustainability research, this quantity was less than 4% of all publications in the same journals. Four over-arching pillars of sustainability research themes emerged (social, economic, ecological, and institutional) with numerous sub-categories within each. The majority of tourism sustainability research occurred in the social and economic arenas. Much more research is needed in the other three categories. The greater part of the recent advances in tourism sustainability appears to be driven by small- and medium-sized tourism firms. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism sustainability is only beginning to be understood. Tourism business leaders have an opportunity to strengthen and integrate their use of sustainability as they work to rebuild consumer trust in travel services.

Travel-Business Stagnation and SME Business Turbulence in the Tourism Sector in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, apart from having an impact on public health, has also caused the stagnation of travel-bureau businesses and the management of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism sector. This study aims to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic as a determinant of travel-business stagnation and turbulence in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the influence of human resources, business development, and product marketing on the productivity of the travel and SME business, the direct and indirect effects of business innovation, economic digitization, and the use of technology on business stability and economic-business sustainability. This study uses an explanatory sequential qualitative–quantitative approach. Data were obtained through observation, in-depth interviews, surveys, and documentation. This study is focused on assessing the efforts made by travel-agency-business actors and SMEs in responding and adapting to changes in the business environment, both internally and externally. Human resources, business development, and product marketing together affect the productivity of travel agents and SMEs with a coefficient of determination of 95.84%. Furthermore, business innovation, economic digitization, and the use of technology simultaneously affect business stability with a coefficient of determination of 63.8%, and business stability affects the sustainability of travel and SMEs with a coefficient of determination of 67.6%. This study recommends a strategy for travel-agency-business sustainability and the stability of SMEs’ economic-business management towards increasing economic growth in the North Toraja Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Are Potential Tourists Willing to Pay More for Improved Accessibility? Preliminary Evidence from the Gargano National Park

Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, tourist destinations have been increasingly selected on the basis of health, safety and social distancing criteria. In this framework, protected natural areas represent ideal tourist destinations due to the presence of wide and open spaces, services for tourists and attention to nature. The present paper focused on accessible tourism, a subset of sustainable tourism that is increasingly gaining greater importance within the tourism sector. By applying the Contingent Valuation Method, the study investigated whether potential tourists are effectively willing to pay extra money to be granted more accessible facilities in a natural area. To this end, a logit model was estimated to determine the probability that tourists exhibit a higher WTP for accessible tourism facilities. The analysis was carried out in the Gargano National Park, Southern Italy, an area traditionally characterised by large tourist flows that have increased further during the recent pandemic. The results showed that only a limited percentage of the respondents are willing to pay a higher amount for improved accessibility. These results represent an interesting starting point to outline an adequate strategy for the tourism valorisation of the natural area.

Experiences of Polish Tourists Traveling for Leisure Purposes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The research presented in this paper examines the experiences of Poles traveling for leisure purposes in the summer season of 2020, taking into account the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved the analysis of source data, including statistical data, and a survey administered via the computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) method. The survey questionnaire was created on the Google platform. The link to the questionnaire was provided via social media to participants of travel groups in the period from 30 November 2020 to 15 February 2021. The sampling was purposive (included only travelers) despite efforts to maintain the gender balance; the proportion of women was higher. Therefore, caution must be applied when interpreting the results which may not be transferable. The survey included questions regarding the respondents’ travel behavior and risk perceptions. 433 correctly completed questionnaires were collected. The dataset was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Descriptive statistics measures and correlation coefficients were used in the analysis of the results. The study shows that some respondents decided against traveling because of the pandemic situation, while those who decided to travel adjusted their behavior by avoiding crowded places and resigning from traveling abroad. Compliance with hygiene standards in the area of tourism services varied, and was the highest in the case of accommodation services. Women rated hygiene standards in chain cafes statistically higher than men and younger people rated hygiene on public transport, trains, air transport and in fast food services higher than older people. The higher the tourism expenditure, the lower the assessment of sanitary standards in tour guide services, air transport and chain cafes decreased.

Can We Return to Our Normal Life When the Pandemic Is under Control? A Preliminary Study on the Influence of COVID-19 on the Tourism Characteristics of Taiwan

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented destructive impacts and challenges to global industry and has had a wide impact on people’s lives. The threat of the virus has also caused a change in tourist travel consumption behavior. This study preliminarily examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism consumption characteristics of Taiwanese people. The consumption characteristic changes of 393 people regarding their plans for domestic and outbound tourism during the different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as after the pandemic ends were surveyed and collected. This study also examined and attempted to understand the relationship between people’s satisfaction with the government’s revitalization plan, the pandemic prevention policy, and their domestic tourism frequency during the pandemic period, and the results showed that during the pandemic, people’s tourism characteristics have changed and tend to be conservative. Since the pandemic is over, while there were no significant differences between people’s planned travel expenditures in Taiwan and those before the outbreak, their intended travel time was shortened. Regarding the choice of travel equipment, people had reduced the use of public transportation. Regarding outbound tourism, after the pandemic, as people’s planned travel days will be reduced, it is expected that travel expenditures will be significantly higher than before the pandemic, which shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on people’s outbound tourism consumption characteristics. During the pandemic, compared with the subsidies for tourism, how to make people feel at ease in the process of tourism is of great importance. Therefore, it is suggested that in the short-term, border control and social pandemic prevention policies should be adopted to enhance people’s confidence in government pandemic prevention, and the general public should be supplemented with travel subsidies in order to promote people’s enthusiasm for tourism. The results of this study provide useful suggestions for government units, tour operators, and related research during the pandemic and offer preliminary insights for the recovery of the tourism industry after the pandemic.