Tourism Cohabiting with a Pandemic: Lessons from the COVID-19 (2020–2023)

Abstract

The pandemic caused by the striking transmission of COVID-19 in early 2020 decimated the population by attacking the most vulnerable—those with chronic health problems and the elderly: one of tourism’s most important clientele. Before the authorities had the tools to treat and protect the population from this virus, unprecedented sanitary measures were imposed in most countries of the world, restricting freedom of movement—the core of the tourism experience. If no economic sector was spared, tourism was among the hardest hit. As a luxury product, tourism was the first sector to suffer the repercussions of political, economic, environmental and health crises. Economic downturns usually result in layoffs and loss of revenues. The COVID-19 crisis also led to the partial “destructuring” of the tourism industries. In those circumstances, the challenge was to maintain just enough tourism activity to save the enterprises and services involved while preventing the spread of the disease any further. The crisis exposed the fragility of the tourism industry’s capability to adapt and cope with a sanitary crisis. Based on experiences identified in the literature during the pandemic, this study proposes an overview of the adaptation strategies deployed by the tourism industries. The study aims to pinpoint resilient avenues for dealing with future health crises.