Analysis of the Vulnerability and Resilience of the Tourism Supply Chain under the Uncertain Environment of COVID-19: Case Study Based on Lijiang

Haixia Bai,Wenxue Ran

doi:10.3390/su14052571

Abstract

The uncertainty environment brought about by COVID-19 has broken the original stable hierarchical network structure and the whole supply and demand system of the tourism supply chain (TSC), which has brought heavy losses to the tourism industry. Using the case research and consensual qualitative research (CQR) method, taking the real situation and perception of individual supply chain members as a window, supplemented by the narrative insertion of Lijiang Yulong Tourism Co., Ltd., Lijiang Old Town and Yulong Snow Mountain scenic areas, the general laws of the vulnerability and resilience of the TSC were glimpsed. The results show that there are vulnerability factors in the TSC including the supply side, demand side, government side, destination economic structure and supply chain attributes, which lead to the interruption and damage of the TSC after the outbreak of the pandemic. At the same time, China’s overall economic environment, tourism demand side, supply side, government side and market participants all have resilience elements. Behind the vulnerability, there is a power of recovery and opportunities for innovation and change. The TSC shows a trend of restorative growth. Theoretically, it helps to enrich theories of TSC and supply chain management under an emergency crisis. In practice, the response behavior of participants at different levels of the supply chain is also the basis for TSC risk management and formulation of optimization strategies in the future, which helps tourism sustainable development in the uncertain environment.

Highlights

Tourism industry has been hit by many health crises since the beginning of the 21st century, such as SARS, Ebola and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) pandemics, which have brought varying degrees of impact on national or regional tourism
Forecasting departments and practices have proved that no commercial organization can be completely immune from COVID-190 s influences, different commercial sectors are affected differently due to different industry characteristics, demand and supply modes [2]
Based on supply chain theory, using the case study method, this paper aims to describe and present the real production and living conditions of the tourism industry and its practitioners under COVID-19 in Lijiang, a small city with tourism as its pillar industry located in Southwest China, and objectively reflect the dual existence of the vulnerability and resilience of the tourism supply chain

Summary

Introduction

Tourism industry has been hit by many health crises since the beginning of the 21st century, such as SARS, Ebola and MERS pandemics, which have brought varying degrees of impact on national or regional tourism. In order to control the pandemic, in addition to relying on restraining measures such as expanding social distance, wearing masks, using health QR codes and big data tracking trips, the Chinese government has implemented strict and comprehensive border restrictions and regional blockade measures, which will undoubtedly have a serious shortterm negative impact on tourism investment and consumption, as well as the supply chain sustainability [1]. Forecasting departments and practices have proved that no commercial organization can be completely immune from COVID-190 s influences, different commercial sectors are affected differently due to different industry characteristics, demand and supply modes [2]. The business of the company was fully resumed. The pandemic situation tended to be stable, but due to the impact of some domestic areas and foreign pandemic situations, the number of tourists received had not fully recovered

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Methods

Conclusion