ABSTRACT
New technologies are having a decisive influence on the behaviour of tourists. Nowadays, all tourists search information on the internet before enjoying any service offered by tourism companies. Consequently, online reputation is an essential component in the marketing strategy of tourism brands. On the other hand, the Covid-19 pandemic has revolutionized tourism activity since its emergence in March 2020. Its direct effects have been widely studied in the literature, but no studies have yet been conducted on the effects of this pandemic on the online reputation of tourism brands. The aim of this paper is to empirically test whether this effect exists and if so whether it has been positive or negative. For this purpose, the weekly time series between January 2017 and September 2020 of ReviewPro's Global Review Index (GRI) were analyzed for 5 of the 8 accommodation which represent "Hospederías de Extremadura" tourism brand. To achieve the objectives of this paper, a pre-Covid period and a Covid period were considered and both the median values of the GRI and the trends in both periods have been compared. The results obtained demonstrate the disruptive character that the pandemic has had on the online reputation of tourism brands. © 2022 Sánchez Rivero, M., Murillo González, L., Rodríguez Rangel, M.C..
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the consumption habits of tourists to benefit sustainable destinations that are not overcrowded, such as rural tourism destinations. However, the periods of compulsory lockdown have had devastating effects on tourism businesses operating in rural areas and have even jeopardised their economic viability. The aim of this article is to quantify in relative terms the effects that the period of compulsory lockdown in a markedly tourist country, such as Spain, between March and May 2020 has had on rural accommodation in one of the most rural provinces of Spain (Caceres). Based on a random sample of 225 rural accommodation establishments and the consideration of various factors, statistical techniques of comparison of means and proportions were used to detect differences in the intensity of the effects of the compulsory lockdown on the economic-financial management, bookings, facilities, and input of rural accommodation establishments in the province. The results obtained show that the economic, labour, and management effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural tourism businesses in the province of Caceres have been very substantial. In particular, the businesses with the highest level of tourist services on supply, i.e., those that, in addition to accommodation, also offer other tourist activities, have been the most affected. In view of this situation, urgent emergency measures have been put in place at a provincial level to alleviate the economic loss and the destruction of jobs caused by this pandemic.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial disruptions in the tourism sector. This situation has forced sectoral actors to adopt important measures, but on the other hand, it has also generated new business opportunities. Using qualitative analysis tools, this paper analyzed the perception of businesspeople in the sector regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and outlined the measures to be adopted to help the recovery of the sector in Extremadura, an emerging inland tourist destination in the southwest of Spain. The results show that their main concern is the economic impact that the crisis is having on their businesses, along with the main measures that the tourism businesspeople are requesting to overcome this situation.