Estimated effects of economic policies for COVID-19 on the leisure and recreation industry under public health interventions. (Special Issue: COVID-19 and tourism.)

The appropriate policy responses for COVID-19 are being vigorously debated, especially regarding whether there is a trade-off between containing the spread of the virus and reducing the economic recession. The aim of the paper is to examine the effect of various economic policies on the leisure and recreation industry under public health interventions during the pandemic. The researchers collect data for 131 countries/regions from February to October 2020 and employ fixed-effects models to examine the impact of economic policies after controlling for public health interventions and country- and time-fixed effects. Results show that, with an impact lag, economic policies significantly promote current-date leisure and recreation activities under public health intervention;this effect peaks after around one month, and the two policies mutually reinforce each other in the medium term. The positive effect of economic policies ranges from 5 to 11%, depending on the magnitude of public health interventions. With regard to the different categories of measures, monetary policies have an immediate positive announcement effect while fiscal policies significantly promote leisure and recreation activities, though with a response lag. In addition, this study discusses the implications for the recovery of the leisure and recreation industry under pandemic crisis from a policy perspective.

The immediate and subsequent effects of public health interventions for COVID-19 on the leisure and recreation industry.

Public health interventions to combat COVID-19 can be viewed as an exogenous shock to the economy, especially for industries-such as leisure, recreation, and tourism-that rely heavily on human mobility. This study investigates whether and how exactly the economic impact of government public health policies varies over time. Focusing on the leisure and recreation industry, we use data for 131 countries/regions from February to May 2020 and employ generalized difference-in-differences models to investigate the short- and longer-term effects of public health policies. We find that stricter policies lead, on average, to an immediate 9.2-percentage-point drop in leisure and recreation participation. Even so, that industry recovers in about seven weeks after a COVID-19 outbreak in countries/regions that undertake active interventions. After thirteen weeks, leisure and recreation involvement recovers to 70% of pre-pandemic levels in a place that actively intervened but stagnates at about 40% in one that did not.

The mechanism of tourism risk perception in severe epidemic-The antecedent effect of place image depicted in anti-epidemic music videos and the moderating effect of visiting history

Tourism risk perception is proven to have significant influence on tourists' decision-making behaviors, however, the impact of the place image depicted in the cultural media of destinations on it needs to be further studied. The study explores the mechanism of potential tourists' risk perception in severe COVID-19 epidemics with the antecedent effects of the place image depicted in anti-epidemic music videos, and the impact of risk perception on potential tourists' place attachment and travel intention, based on the risk perception theory. This study also explores the moderating effect of the visiting history on balancing risk perception, place attachment, and travel intention. With empirical research, the study result indicates that in severe epidemics: (1). The place image depicted in anti-epidemic music videos has a significant negative effect on tourism risk perception;tourism risk perception has a significant negative effect on potential tourists' place attachment and travel intention;(2). The tourism risk perception mediates between the place image depicted in the music videos and potential tourists' place attachment and travel intention;(3). Visiting history modulates the influence of tourism risk perception, potential tourists' place attachment, and travel intention. This research would be helpful if it enriches the theoretical content of risk perception, expands the theoretical foundation of tourists' decision making, promotes the application of music videos in tourism research, and proposes empirical risk management countermeasures of tourism destination.