COVID-19 and its impact on tourism sectors: implications for green economic recovery

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic posed huge hurdles to green economic recovery and the tourism sector. This paper examines challenges in the Zhejiang, Fujian, and Shandong provinces of China' coastal tourism and green economic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To assess this impact, the study used econometrics models based on the Chinese provincial data from March 2020 to April 2021. According to the results, coastal tourism's related income fell drastically regardless of where the people live. Fisherman's earnings dropped by 26%, while captains and owner's earnings dropped by 49% on average. This also resulted in a shortage of food supply that endangered food security. During the pandemic, the number and duration of tourism trips dropped in all study locations. In addition, results indicated that in the wake of COVID-19, lower economic growth and recessions resulted in a significant decline in green investments. The paper proposes that to achieve green recovery and the recovery of the tourism sector, the local and central governments need to increase green investments and the literacy of the people in charge of coastal tourism.