Due to the pandemic, governments need to consider future strategies for balancing citizen safety with continued existence of important travel industries.
The latest lockdown in Shanghai this month sheds light on the ongoing situation, said co-author Dr. Sharif Rasel, Lecturer in International Business at Flinders University.
“One-way tourism and hospitality operators and policymakers can prepare and reduce the vulnerability of the industry is to start vertically integrating operations with other related industries, such as agriculture, viticulture or the higher education and further training sectors,” said Dr. Rasel.
This study builds on calls for further investigations into how tourism destinations plan for, and respond to, future global crises and disasters and the roles of political leaders, says first author.
To quote Associate Professor Mulyadi Robin from the Australian Institute of Business, “The pandemic has offered countries the opportunity to undertake fundamental transformations in their tourism industry, especially in attempting to reboot both domestic and international travel numbers.”
Border closures at the onset of the pandemic proved to be beneficial in saving lives and people will definitely depend on their country’s leaders for border and community defense during the pandemic and future crises.
