Recovery of domestic tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic: An experimental comparison of interventions

What Influence Could the Acceptance of Visitors Cause on the Epidemic Dynamics of a Reinfectious Disease?: A Mathematical Model

The globalization in business and tourism becomes crucial more and more for the economical sustainability of local communities. In the presence of an epidemic outbreak, there must be such a decision on the policy by the host community as whether to accept visitors or not, the number of acceptable visitors, or the condition for acceptable visitors. Making use of an SIRI type of mathematical model, we consider the influence of visitors on the spread of a reinfectious disease in a community, especially assuming that a certain proportion of accepted visitors are immune. The reinfectivity of disease here means that the immunity gained by either vaccination or recovery is imperfect. With the mathematical results obtained by our analysis on the model for such an epidemic dynamics of resident and visitor populations, we find that the acceptance of visitors could have a significant influence on the disease's endemicity in the community, either suppressive or supportive.

Was it really different? COVID-19-pandemic period in long-term recreation monitoring - A case study from Polish forests

The COVID -19 pandemic posed serious challenge for securing public health worldwide. Public health preparedness and restrictions put in place impacted many aspects of human life, including recreational activities and access to outdoor recreational destinations. Green spaces have become one of the few sources of resilience during the coronavirus crisis due to their restorative effects on psychophysical health and community well-being. The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic on forest visitation. The results are based upon long-term visitor data acquired via pyroelectric sensors (Eco-Counter) in three forest districts located in Poland (Browsk, Gdansk & Kozienice Forest Districts). The analysis covers the period between January 01, 2019 and December 31, 2020 and the results confirm changes in recreational use in the studied forest areas during the pandemic compared to the preceding year. However, observed changes in forest visitation vary by pandemic period and study area. The ban on access to forest areas significantly reduced the number of forest visits in all studied areas. The number of visits to sub-urban forests (Gdansk Forest District) and to remote nature-based tourist destinations (Browsk Forest District) increased in the later pandemic periods, especially in the summer months of 2020, while it remained the same in a popular nearby recreation area: Kozienice Forest District. There were only minor temporal shifts in the distribution of weekly and daily visits. The results are important for public health preparedness planning in crisis situations and for provisioning conditions supporting societal health and well-being. Objective data on forest visits are necessary for successful management of forest areas and surrounding amenities. More cross-sector collaboration and public participation would be desirable to create sustainable, resilient, and liveable spaces for the society.

Management Implications

•Long-term visitation monitoring is crucial for successful management of outdoor recreation destinations and their catchment areas.•Objective numbers concerning forest visitation from the pre-pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic period allow observing trends and making fact-based management decisions during period of crisis.•Changes in the investigated three forest study areas in Poland were not homogenous, which implies the necessity of systematic visitor monitoring in multiple destinations, in order to cover different types of forest areas and also local diversity in recreational use.•More intersectoral, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary exchange would be desirable to better integrate existing on-site visitor monitoring data into decision making processes related to forest management, urban planning, transportation, tourism and public health.

Consequences of the accessibility of the mountain national parks in Poland

In Poland, mountain national parks are visited by about 8 million tourists annually. As a result, national parks must have a properly developed infrastructure to accommodate such a large number of people. Tourism development in mountain national parks satisfies the needs of tourist participants and should increase the attractiveness of the area, fit into the cultural concepts of a given region, and promote its development. The research aims to determine the consequences of making mountain national parks available in Poland and determine the factors determining the attractiveness of the protected area and the related tourist burden. Nine mountain national parks located in Poland were selected for the research. An interview was conducted with employees of mountain national parks concerning (a) the tourist burden on the national park, (b) the tourist management of the national park and its surroundings, and (c) the impact of tourist traffic on the natural environment. Parameters characterizing the intensity and spatial character of tourist traffic, tourist management, and the influence of tourist traffic on the natural environment of mountain national parks are discussed. The study presents the parameters determining: tourist traffic density, tourist route density, and tourist traffic intensity. A map of the development of the surroundings of national parks was presented, and its influence on tourist traffic was determined. The obtained results were discussed in the context of the consequences of tourist traffic in mountain national parks. The result of the work was the development of a map of the tourist load of mountain national parks in Poland. Tourism is of crucial importance for the proper functioning of national parks. However, if not properly cultivated, it threatens the fauna and flora of such areas. Rational use of natural resources by tourists visiting mountain national parks is crucial to maintain the balance between man and nature. Proper supervision and management in the national park, as well as the collective responsibility of tourists visiting national parks and the community living in their vicinity, is of fundamental importance for the proper functioning of the system in national parks and nearby tourist destinations.

A Study on the Structural Relationships between COVID-19 Coping Strategies, Positive Expectations, and the Behavioral Intentions of Various Tourism-Related Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of coping strategies, attitudes, and positive anticipated emotions on the positive expectations and behavioral intentions of Korean tourists during the COVID-19 pandemic. An integrated model was proposed and tested, and the results indicate that effective coping strategies, attitudes, and positive anticipated emotions have a positive effect on the positive expectations of tourism during the pandemic, which in turn positively influences behavioral intentions. Practical suggestions were also provided based on the findings. This research has implications for understanding the ways in which individuals cope with and adapt to travel during times of crisis, and for identifying strategies that may facilitate positive expectations and behavioral intentions in the tourism industry.

Exploring the Social Trend Indications of Utilizing E-Commerce during and after COVID-19's Hit

COVID-19 is a major global crisis affecter, changing global norms and societal behavioral models. Many companies have faced existential crises, but on the other hand, businesses that were and are helping others to boost digitalization, ICT and software solutions deployment, remote communications integration, e-commerce & e-services, and so on, have boosted their businesses, as people shifted online during the global lockdown and international travel restrictions. Our work explores the trend of e-commerce and e-services utilization during the ease of restrictions and the social distancing period to forecast the trend continuation patterns after the pandemic. An online survey was conducted and targeted individuals in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, resulting in 155 participants. The data were analyzed from four perspectives: demographics, COVID-19 health impact, trend analysis, and regression analysis. The results indicate heavy utilization of e-commerce and e-services during the global movement restrictions and travel bans. This trend has, however, significantly reduced during the ease of restrictions and social distancing period. Utilizing e-commerce and e-services in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, based on the research data, is positively correlated to the outbreak conditions. On the other hand, current data still does not give clear indications, and this pattern is going to be mostly, partly, or not at all permanent now as societies are returning to mostly a free movement of people and marginally restricted social distancing times.

Impact of domestic tourism on economy under COVID-19: The perspective of tourism satellite accounts

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic reversed the ongoing upsurge in the global tourism industry. Yet compared with still-stagnant international tourism, domestic tourism has shown signs of recovery. This study takes Guangdong Province, China as a case for regional domestic tourism and adopts the tourism satellite account (TSA) method to assess domestic tourism's status. A pre- and post-pandemic comparison is conducted to map the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on domestic tourism's economic contribution. The TSA results show that the direct contribution of domestic tourism to Guangdong's economy fell from 2.53% to 1.20% across these timeframes. Findings also reveal changes in visitor composition by places of origin and in industries' proportional contributions to tourism.

Peer-to-peer accommodation in the time of COVID-19: A segmentation approach from the perspective of tourist safety

This research identifies safety practices to be adopted by organizations of peer-to-peer accommodation for different segments of tourists in a pandemic context. More specifically, it identifies the profiles of tourists based on their opinions on the safety practices they expect to find when booking peer-to-peer accommodation. Results from a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Cluster Analysis applied to a sample of 864 prospective tourists suggest two prominent dimensions of safety practices: information and hygiene, and protection; and four types of tourist segments: concerned tourists, indifferent tourists, forewarned tourists, and confident tourists. While the concerned tourists value all safety practices most, the indifferent tourists do not require access to information about safety measures, although they do want information on the Covid-19 regulations at their destination. The forewarned tourists attach the least importance to aspects such as information and hygiene, and the greatest to the protection aspect. In contrast, the confident tourists value all information practices and safety measures but do not appreciate the protection aspects. These results will be helpful for peer-to-peer accommodation providers wishing to customize services during and after the Covid-19 period.

The Impacts of Environmental Dynamism on Chinese Tour Guides' Sustainable Performance: Factors Related to Vitality, Positive Stress Mindset and Supportive Policy

Although previous research shows great interest in improving the sustainability of organizations' performance, little is known about individual sustainable performance, especially for special groups such as tour guides. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study aimed to investigate the effect of environmental dynamism caused by COVID-19 on tour guides' sustainable performance and mediating role of vitality and intervention mechanism in this relationship. Adopting a quantitative research method, we collected data from 382 professional tour guides in China via three surveys. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) and PROCESS were used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that: (1) environmental dynamism was negatively related to tour guides' sustainable performance and (2) vitality at work mediated this negative effect; (3) a positive stress mindset moderated the relationship between environmental dynamism and vitality; (4) supportive policy's moderating role in the relationship of vitality and sustainable performance was not significant. The above conclusions contribute to the literature about the external environment, emotional state, performance management and application boundary of COR theory in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vaccine Passport and Traveler Behaviors in the New Market of the Domestic and International Tourism Industry Facing the With-Corona Era

To ensure a smooth and rapid recovery of tourism, countries around the world are stepping up vaccinations against COVID-19. China, in particular has a very high vaccination rate due to its own vaccine production. Following this trend, many countries have started introducing vaccine passports as an alternative solution to verify valid and vaccinated travelers. This study attempted to understand the fundamental perceptions of travelers' intentions using vaccine passports. A total of 601 samples were investigated and analyzed. As a result, four factors were identified: perceived usefulness, destination trust, risk perception, and perception of incentives. Also, this study performed means comparisons analysis with the major demographic characteristics of respondents. Based on this study, it is expected that the results will contribute to the revival of the travel industry in the future and provide valuable implications for marketing plans to help the travel industry suffer from COVID-19.

Travel Motivation during COVID-19: A Case from Nepal

The tourism industry is one of the most affected industries by the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding travel motivation is necessary for the tourism movement, even in the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, this quantitative study aimed to explore travel motivation and its determinants. We collected 181 samples through a web-based questionnaire survey of the Nepali people in January and February 2021. The data were analyzed using a probit regression model through two different travel companion perspectives, i.e., traveling with friends and traveling with family members. We found that travel motivation, attributes, travel purpose, and transport mode preferences differed in companion groups. Specifically, those who want to travel with friends are government employees, 20–29 years of age, set health and wellness purposes, choose the bike for transportation, are less willing to visit homestay and agritourism, and want to travel for around one week. Those who plan to travel with family members use the coach to travel, choose rural destinations, including villages, and spend around two weeks. Based on these findings, we suggest that the Nepalese tourism destination and public transport companies make tourism packages targeting the groups. Since both groups showed interest in visiting rural destinations, we can say that tourism in rural destinations may revive earlier than urban tourism after the pandemic. However, a low-risk travel environment should be ensured for traveling to attract more tourists during and the post-disaster.

COVID-19 vaccine-induced recovery and the implications of vaccine apartheid on the global tourism industry

According to United Nations, World Tourism Organization COVID-19 has had the most devastating impact on the entire global tourism value chain, which resulted in a 74% decline in international passenger arrival, a US$1.3 trillion loss in international tourism receipts, over the US $ 2trillion loss of global domestic product and placing between 100 and 120 million jobs at risk globally. While the initial impact of the pandemic was uniform across the world, the recovery was expected to be varied across the region due to inequitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine. This study seeks to examine the implications of vaccination inequity on tourism recovery in the global tourism market. The study uses secondary, archival data and harnesses the advantages of big data generated from online activities from tourists and tourism companies obtained from authoritative sources. The study found that inequitable access to vaccinations produced a skewed recovery favouring vaccinated regions concentrated in the developed world, leaving poor regions such as Africa behind. The robot system characterising the vaccine-induced recovery had also created a vaccine diplomatic nightmare that scuttled global tourism recovery efforts. To ensure sustainable recovery, there is a need to ensure global vaccination access by rechannelling some of the excess vaccines in developed countries to countries that needs them to ensure the opening up of the entire tourism global market and reduce vulnerabilities that are coming from COVID-19 variants, which poses a threat to the gains made from the current vaccination program. The study concludes that there will not be any meaningful economic recovery without a wholesale approach covering the entire global population.

How Fear of COVID-19 Affects the Behavioral Intention of Festival Participants-A Case of the HANFU Festival

The recovery of the tourism industry is an important issue that has attracted much attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainable and safe festival tourism is considered an effective way of aiding in the recovery of the industry. A face-to-face survey of participants in the Guangzhou Hanfu Festival was conducted to examine the relationship between fears of COVID-19, perceived risks, perceptual evaluations, festival attitudes, behavioral intentions, and crowding during this difficult time. Results clarified how fear affects behavioral intentions in festival research, and the mediation role of perceived risk and the moderation role of crowding was confirmed. A timely set of recommendations was provided to festival operators and local governments.

Facilitators and Reducers of Korean Travelers' Avoidance/Hesitation Behaviors toward China in the Case of COVID-19

Given that little is known about overseas travelers’ responses and behaviors toward China after the outbreak of COVID-19, this study aimed to uncover risk perception factors and investigate its role in Korean travelers’ avoidance/hesitation behaviors toward China as an international tourism destination in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic. To explore the relationship with risk perception, anticipated emotion and avoidance/hesitation behavior, a quantitative method along with an online survey was employed. This focus was on Korean tourists who had traveled to China at least once. Findings revealed that risk perception and negative anticipated emotion are vital facilitators of avoidance/hesitation behaviors, and that positive anticipated emotion reduces such behaviors. The efficacy of a higher-order structure of risk perception, which encompasses six dimensions, was also demonstrated. In addition, destination attachment lowered the influence of risk perception on the formation of avoidance/hesitation behaviors. Overall, our results will help tourism researchers and practitioners understand what factors drive and reduce international travelers’ avoidance/hesitation behaviors toward China in the post-pandemic world. Implications for theory and practice are offered.