How COVID-19 has affected supply and demand within tourism industry

ABSTRACT

There is no doubt that coronavirus has succeeded in crippling businesses and people worldwide. It has led to unprecedented economic crisis in countries around the world. The tourism sector isn't an exception to its devastating impacts. The virus has succeeded in affecting not just the economy. In addition to such, job opportunities, and regional developments in local communities have been greatly affected. Tourism throughout the world has been stagnant since the month of April 2020 due to the advent of COVID-19. Given this temporary problem, economies and employment rates have been affected to a great extent. Also, local communities around the world are struggling to survive. In most countries, 50% the revenue generated from exports is contributed by tourism. This means it is a major contributor of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as well as employment. The major aim of this paper is to carry out an objective review that can enable researchers and experts understand as well as manage the impacts of COVID-19 on tourism. For this to be achieved, this paper discussed the transformational opportunities presented by COVID-19 including questions that it raises. The paper attempts to identify pre-assumptions, institutions, and fundamental values which the tourism industry including other academia need to challenge for development to be achieved. Furthermore, the paper discusses the major impacts, experiences and behaviors being experienced by the 3 stakeholders in the tourism industry - social cost, supply, and demand. Just as measures have been adopted by countries to ameliorate the situation, recommendations have been put forward to ensure speedy recovery of the sector.