Perception, Reaction, and Future Development of the Influence of COVID-19 on the Hospitality and Tourism Industry in China

The present study examined the perception, reaction (i.e., possible measures), and future development from the perspectives of hotel and tourism practitioners and experts to investigate the influence of coronavirus disease 2019 (i.e., COVID-19) on the hospitality and tourism industry in China. After conducting 58 in-depth interviews among hotel and tourism practitioners and experts, feasible and practical measures were proposed to reduce such influence and predict the future development of China’s hospitality and tourism industry. Findings indicate that the influence of COVID-19 on the industry is perceived mainly through the pandemic’s economic and social effects. Possible measures that can be adopted for the recovery of China’s hospitality and tourism industry include the following aspects: government financial support, employee relationship management and electronic (e)-training, business marketing management, and industry co-operation network. A Perception-Reaction-Predication (PRP) crisis model is also proposed.

The Utility of Blockchain Technology in the Electronic Commerce of Tourism Services: An Exploratory Study on Romanian Consumers

Blockchain technology is considered one of the most revolutionary innovations that has much to offer the tourism industry, having a positive impact among consumers with the help of interactive applications but also easy to use. Tourist services must constantly evolve in a society where the consumer has everything a click away and his requirements are demanding when it comes to quality leisure. Blockchain technology has the power to change the course of the travel experience, offering the customer more autonomy, but the applications developed by the providers can offer transparency and trust to the customers from the moment T0, when the desire to go on a trip is born, until the end at which it should provide feedback. So far, digital and tourism specialists have not agreed on the development of blockchain-based applications, although the benefits are great for both consumers and tourism service providers, as in this publication we can see a series of advantages that blockchain technology can offer the tourism field. This paper also investigates the satisfaction that the Romanian consumer has after purchasing tourist services through e-commerce applications, a satisfaction that can be an additional motivation for specialists to implement blockchain technology. Following the research in this paper, it can be seen how important it is to develop a series of easy-to-use applications, because if the consumer does not manage to use the applications, this affects the degree of satisfaction and the intention to continue using the online applications for the purchase of tourism services.

Living with COVID-19 and Sustaining a Tourism Recovery—Adopting a Front-Line Collaborative Response between the Tourism Industry and Community Pharmacists

While the COVID-19 pandemic evolves and new variants emerge, destinations and cities look to tourism recovery, cautiously rebooting and re-opening borders. Since the start of the pandemic, dramatic lockdowns have been employed, resulting in dire economic and social consequences to the tourism and hospitality industry and creating the need for a more feasible and sustainable response in the post-pandemic era. Pandemic vigilance and resilience at the societal level have become key in pandemic preparedness. However, due to the complexity of managing COVID-19, no clear cross-disciplinary collaborative framework for tourism recovery has been developed. Cross-sector collaboration to collectively integrate resources, capabilities, and experiences should be prioritised to spearhead tourism recovery plans. With insight on public health, pandemic preparedness, and community access, we hypothesised that cross-industry collaboration between the tourism industry and the pharmacist profession is relevant to the measures adopted for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. To examine this hypothesis, this study aimed to explore perceptions from key stakeholders in the tourism and the pharmacist sectors on cross-industry collaboration towards COVID-19 management and the “know-how” in developing, adopting, and advancing such a partnership. This exploratory study adopts and advances the ‘Four Cs’ conceptual framework of communication, cooperation, coordination, and collaboration. In terms of our hypothesis, interview responses with tourism executives and CPs confirm the framework’s suitability and the importance of an interdisciplinary collaborative approach between CPs and the tourism sector to craft a sustainable pathway to recovery from COVID-19 and future pandemic measures as borders re-open and international mobility increases. A tourism recovery strategy from this pandemic can occur more judiciously through a collaborative partnership with an extensive network of pharmacists within communities and popular tourism sites, as CPs have valuable healthcare resources and the ability to track and communicate healthcare alerts to tourism destination recovery efforts.

The Evaluation of Distance Learning in Tourism Education in the Pandemic Process

The most important feature that distinguishes the tourism sector from many sectors is that it has a labor-intensive structure. Therefore, the knowledge and skills of those working in this sector are important for the competitiveness of businesses. In this direction, tourism education curricula are developed on a practical basis. During the pandemic, the functioning of the tourism industry has come to a complete halt, so education has been moved to digital platforms. In this process, many application-based courses were suspended and these courses were started to be carried out on digital platforms. The aim of this study is to evaluate the views of students who receive tourism education in the pandemic process towards distance learning. The action research technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. Action research is a method actively used by educators who take the role of researchers to systematically and scientifically obtain information and develop applications in various fields of education. The sample of the study consists of 24 students studying tourism in the 2020-2021 academic years. The research data were collected using a semi-structured interview technique. As a result of the research, while the students expressed positive opinions about distance learning, they stated that they lacked the application aspect, which is a necessity of tourism education. In addition, with the statements put forward, it is concluded that students improve themselves by participating in seminars and trainings with distance learning methods in many different countries in the pandemic process. Among the problems experienced, students stated that there is a lack of infrastructure.

Analysis of Human Resource Allocation Model for Tourism Industry Based on Improved BP Neural Network

This paper analyzes the deficiencies of human resource allocation in the tourism industry by investigating the human resource allocation in the tourism industry, puts forward corresponding improvement measures and suggestions, and strives to provide certain guidance and helpful effects for the construction of tourism resource informatization. In this paper, a modified BP neural network model is proposed by introducing random perturbation terms on the hidden layer in the BP neural network algorithm, and the weight matrix connecting the input values is added with the random perturbation matrix to obtain a new weight matrix so that the convergence effect of the improved BP neural network algorithm is improved. Then, to address the problem that the initial weights of the long and short-term memory neural network and gated BP unit neural network have a large impact on the convergence speed and prediction accuracy of the algorithm after the initial weight selection is determined, this paper introduces the random perturbation term into the gate structure of the long and short-term memory neural network and gated BP unit neural network and proposes and connects an improved long and short-term memory neural network and gated BP unit neural network. The weight matrix of the input values is added with the random perturbation matrix to obtain the new weight matrix so that the convergence effect of the improved long and short-term memory neural network algorithm and the gated BP unit neural network algorithm is improved. Constructing the human resource allocation model of the tourism industry and proposing coping strategies and countermeasures and taking the human resource allocation system of the tourism industry as the core, the human resource allocation model of the tourism industry is established by combining the network image crisis life cycle system of tourism scenic spots and the network public opinion dissemination model. From the perspective of managers, the human resource allocation management policy and management procedures of the tourism industry are proposed. Using the quantifiable and disenable characteristics of online text information, the response strategy of online monitoring and propaganda and offline management and enhancement is proposed, and innovative countermeasures to the human resource allocation of the tourism industry are proposed in three categories: network originated, reality coexisting, and reality originated. Through this paper, we propose a new approach to human resource allocation management and development in the tourism industry and improve the efficiency of human resource allocation in the tourism industry.

Does Tourism Affect Sustainable Development in MINT Countries?

Following the failure to achieve Millennium Development Goals by most countries in the world, Sustainable Development Goals are now at the center of developmental issues. Consequently, this study aims to examine if tourism can be an ally to sustainable development in MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey) countries between 1995 and 2018. The study uses adjusted net saving and international tourism receipts in these countries as measures of sustainable development and tourism, respectively. In achieving its objectives, the study employs the augmented mean group (AMG) estimation technique to estimate the long-run parameters. Besides, mean group (MG) and common correlated effects MG techniques are employed to check the robustness of the estimates obtained via the AMG approach. The results from the three estimators show that tourism is indeed an ally to sustainable development in MINT countries since there is a significant positive relationship between tourism and sustainable development. In other words, tourism can put the MINT countries on the path to sustainable development. This implies that any policy that will enhance the performance of the tourism industry will ensure sustainable development in MINT countries. Thus, the governments of MINT countries should focus basically on achieving sustainable tourism development, as this will translate to sustainable development in their countries.

Understanding circularity in tourism

The spread of the idea of the circular economy has already appeared among service providers; therefore, a growing interest in tourism can be observed. Due to its seasonal nature and because tourism is primarily operated by for-profit actors, whose aspirations focus on economic benefits, tourism in in recent years has developed in the direction of mass tourism. By overriding the approach of sustainability, all this strengthens the damaging effects of tourism on nature and society. The aim of the study is to understand and interpret the circular economy model in the tourism industry; explore the relevant literature through a review analysis and based on the synthesis of principles found in the literature, show directions of how the circular economy can be interpreted in tourism. The main contribution of the study is that besides the contextual understanding of circular tourism, it aims to provide practical issues and examples about circular solutions. The study also highlights that in addition to physical parameters, some solutions could be achieved only by reorganizing processes and practices. Furthermore, based on industrial symbiosis, tourism can support sustainable development at the individual and the regional level.