COVID-19 and the Interruption of Sister Cities Activities: Lexington, Kentucky and Its Four "Sister” Thoroughbred Raising/Racing Cities

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly and negatively influenced human organizations and activities at global scales. The impacts are evident in not only the cancelation of events, but also in the postponement of events for a year or more. Countries, cities, economies and voluntary organizations have been affected by these events and activities at local, regional and international scales. One major international non-governmental organization with multiple global networks is Sister Cities International (SCI) which links businesses, schools, and community groups. Groups interested in recreation/tourism, sports, art, culture, health care, human empowerment and more are among the networks evident at all scales. This study looks specifically at the linkages of five sister cities with strong Thoroughbred racing and raising economies and how COVID-19 affected the events planned for 2020 and 2021. The specific focus is on Lexington, Kentucky, the center of the Thoroughbred industry in the U.S. Details reveal that while a few events and activities were canceled, many more were rescheduled for 2021, including the Sister Cities International conference which was held virtually in July 2021. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.