The impacts of COVID-19 on the cruise industry based on an empirical study in China

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the entire cruise industry. This research aims to provide an understanding of the impacts of COVID-19 on the cruise industry from various stakeholders and recommend corresponding post-COVID recovery strategies for building a sustainable cruise industry. By conducting 22 semi-structured interviews in Shanghai, China and analysing the interview data using content analysis, this research finds five aspects of the impacts that are worth discussing, namely social, health and well-being, regulatory, operational, and financial aspects. Key findings include the impacts of different stakeholders' opinions, the problems existing in the current cruise industry, and the potential for future improvement. Recommendations and recovery strategies are proposed to mitigate the negative impacts. This research not only explores the impact of COVID-19 on cruise tourism and fosters recommendations in the most fast-developing region (China) but also facilitates researchers and policymakers to understand the effects of the pandemic and proposes future risk mitigation strategies.

Heterogeneity of inbound tourism driven by exchange rate fluctuations: implications for tourism business recovery and resilience in Australia

Quantifying risk spillovers from exchange rates to inbound tourist arrivals by purpose of visit is essential for Australia to take proactive measures to achieve tourism business recovery and resilience after such critical events like the recent bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a monthly dataset over the period January 1998–March 2020, this paper calculates the conditional value-at-risk (CoVaR) to evaluate how different types of inbound tourists to Australia respond to exchange rate fluctuations. The empirical results identify inbound tourist arrivals with the highest sensitivity to exchange rate fluctuations, confirming the role of exchange rates in determining inbound tourist arrivals by purpose of visit. Furthermore, these results shed light on provisions of tourism products, services, and infrastructural facilities to satisfy different requirements of Australia's inbound tourists by purpose of visit, aiming to promote tourism business recovery and resilience in Australia.

Identifying Risks in the Cruise Supply Chain: An Empirical Study in Shanghai, China

The increased frequency and severe consequences of risks in the cruise industry have attracted increasing attention from both academics and practitioners, especially after the 2012 ?Costa Concordia? disaster and the 2020 coronavirus outbreak on the ?Diamond Princess?. Although the literature on risk studies associated with the cruise industry and supply-chain risk management is growing, the extant literature lacks a study to view risks in the cruise industry associated with the supply chain. This paper addresses this gap by reviewing the literature on risks related to the cruise industry and general supply-chain risks to create a framework of cruise supply-chain risks. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted to validate the identified risks and explore potential undiscovered risks. A novel risk typology of the cruise supply chain was then built based on the literature review and the empirical study. This includes macro risks, safety, security, and health risks, information risks, and supply risks. This framework can be applied for the purpose of systematically identifying the risks and their impacts on the cruise supply chain. This paper contributes to the development of a comprehensive cruise supply-chain risk classification with a detailed explanation of each risk in the cruise supply chain, which can be used by stakeholders in the cruise industry to identify and measure the impact of each risk. Additionally, this paper provides avenues for future research by scholars interested in assessing and managing cruise supply-chain risks.

A synthesised review of pandemic-driven consumer behaviours and applied theories: Towards a unified framework

A massive amount of research has been conducted to examine the pandemic-driven consumer behaviours, yet one may notice the fragmented nature of the research outcomes. This study conducts a synthesised review that aims to (1) identify the principal categories of pandemic-driven consumer behaviours and (2) unveil the key streams of theoretical insights applied to address those behaviours. The review findings reveal six categories of consumer behaviours in response to the pandemic: health-related, abnormal buying, technology-related, information-related, leisure-related and prosocial behaviours. Our review suggests that theories addressing three distinctive human needs (i.e. basic, cognitive psychological and affective psychological needs) are applied to the pandemic context. We proposed a unified framework and five research propositions, capturing the major research trends and future research directions. This study contributes to the literature with a unified theoretical framework by pinpointing specific theories that are mostly relevant in predicting consumer behaviours under the COVID-19 context.

Achieving Universal Wearing of Face Masks During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Practical Solution from Shanghai, China.

BACKGROUND: Face masks are basic protective equipment for preventing respiratory infectious diseases. The measures to properly dispose of and allocate face masks during the early stage of an epidemic caused by respiratory infectious diseases deserve worldwide attention. METHODS: A qualitative research approach was used to document the practice of a citywide face mask-wearing strategy of the Shanghai Municipal Government (called the "Shanghai solution" in this article). Based on data from government work documents, an online face mask-allocation and sales system was built to offer real-time updates of face-mask appointments and sales information in all designated pharmacies and neighborhood committees in Shanghai. RESULTS: In the Shanghai solution, a total of 24.8 million residents in 6,031 committees were covered, in order to achieve universal wearing of face masks during the COVID-19 crisis. Up to 110 million face masks were dispensed to residents in six rounds of face-mask allocation during February to April. This practical experience in Shanghai solved two key problems (insufficient face-mask capacity, protection of vulnerable population) with the supply of face masks by addressing four essential characteristics: overall coordination, on-demand distribution, efficient distribution, and technical support. CONCLUSION: The practice of the citywide face mask-supply strategy of Shanghai could provide several pointers for management of a shortage of emergency materials, dispatch, and transport to other countries during the pandemic.