Unfolding the Impacts of a Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic on the Sustainability of Culinary Tourism: Some Insights from Micro and Small Street Food Vendors

Abstract

Our study reveals the impacts of various COVID-19-related restrictions on the culinary tourism industry by exploring how street food vendors deal with this unprecedented encounter. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews of 20 street food vendors and later analyzed using qualitative data analysis, focusing on the thematic analysis of coded interview transcripts, as a basis for generalization of our findings. This study unfolds the knock-on effects of the lock-down, social distancing, and movement restrictions imposed on the street food vendors and sheds light on how the culinary tourism industry can become more resilient and sustainable in facing a future or recurring pandemic. Understanding the dynamic impacts of the pandemic will offer insights for the culinary tourism industry and the government in the development of relevant policies to alleviate those impacts and protect the culinary tourism industry in the ‘new normal’ post-pandemic era.