Problems and Perspective of International Tourism Development during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article investigates domestic and international tourists’ “gaze” using tourism imagery. Domestic and international tourists’ preferences are critically examined using the concept of the “tourist gaze” and “local gaze.” Through qualitative, in-depth photo-elicitation interviews (PEIs) guided by 16 photographs covering various tourist attractions in Botswana, results indicate dissimilar tourist gazes between international and domestic tourists. Culture, livelihoods, and crowded spaces, with a variety of activities, influence domestic tourists’ gaze, whereas privacy, tranquility, and quietness influence the international tourists’ gaze. The tourist gaze thus can be seen as a culturally contingent concept that is not universal. Despite the differences, results indicate the continued promotion of an international tourist’s gaze. Results help explain low visitation by domestic tourists to protected areas in Botswana and Africa. In view of the study’s results, theoretical and policy implications are also discussed.

Economic Vulnerabilities and Livelihoods: Impact of <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 in Fiji and Vanuatu

Besides resort tourism, Turkey has a huge potential of alternative tourism sources, such as health and thermal tourism, winter sports and mountain nature tourism, mountain tourism, rural and eco-tourism, congress and exhibition tourism, cruise and yacht tourism, golf tourism, and so forth. However, this potential can hardly said to be used effectively. For example, attractive and suitable alternative destinations, as well as routes for thermal, spring, winter and mountain sports, to be distributed in different regions throughout Turkey could not be constructed. In this study, we research occupancy rates in the hospitality sector for the period 2001–2013, by using spatial analysis techniques in order to demonstrate whether there is any spatial pattern of occupancy rates in Turkey. For this purpose, we calculated Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation coefficient for occupancy rates in the hospitality sector for both domestic and international tourists. The results show that, while there is spatial autocorrelation, taking accommodation of international tourists into account, spatial autocorrelation does not arise in terms of domestic tourist’s occupancy. Thus, domestic and international tourists’ spatial patterns are different in Turkey. This result can be interpreted as a preference of domestic tourists to visit relatives in Turkey, while international tourists prefer to stay in the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts along with Istanbul. Also, climate affects the occupancy rates. In other words, the length of the tourist season affects occupancy rates in the hospitality sector. Moreover, we also aim to detect spatial-dependencies among domestic and international tourists’ lines and local correlations using bivariate Moran’s I and LISA. The analyses show that coastal provinces that have HH autocorrelation are neighboring provinces that have a low degree of occupancy indicating that strong tourism routes and regional destinations have not yet been established. For this reason, such destinations should be bolstered with accommodation, culture, hand-crafts, and food and beverage facilities. Therefore, the results of this study may help Republic of Turkey’s Development Ministry to rearrange their integrated tourism planning approach.

Tourism demand in Romania has shifted dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, with a marked rise in domestic visitors. This study explores differences between domestic and international tourists in eco-certified accommodation units, drawing on insights from 26 managers within the Eco-Romania network. Results reveal that international tourists are motivated mainly by culture and nature, show higher enthusiasm, and display stronger pro-environmental behaviours. Domestic tourists, by contrast, have more diverse motivations centred on relaxation and socialising, coupled with higher expectations and lower conformity to hospitality norms. From a managerial perspective, these findings highlight the need for tailored strategies.

Since the early 1980s, China has witnessed a rapid growth in both international and domestic mass tourism. An analysis of the socio‐economic impact of this recent tourism boom in three tourism areas reveals that domestic tourism is more important to local economic development than is international tourism in China. Local communities were better able to respond promptly to the new opportunities that have been created by domestic tourism, resulting in more employment and income opportunities, an expanded private sector and increasing social mobility. To create a more sustainable form of tourism in China, domestic tourism issues need to have a higher profile in both local and national level policy development, and the Chinese people need urgently to address the formidable environmental consequences of domestic mass tourism development.

This study compares and contrasts the motives and information search patterns of domestic and international tourists visiting a popular tropical destination area in northern Australia. The study is framed within Pearce's Travel Career Pattern model that considers the role of a basket of core, middle tier extrinsic, middle tier intrinsic and outer tier motives in making trip decisions. Core motives of novelty, escape and relaxation were important to both groups but were more important to the domestic market. Middle tier extrinsic motives associated with nature influenced the international market, while domestic tourists were more likely to identify middle tier intrinsic motives as influencing their visit decision. Additionally, information sources used by domestic and international tourists in pre-destination and in-destination searches varied based on geographic origin and previous visit histories. Interestingly, while people shopped online, many preferred to buy only after face-to-face communications with suppliers. This study provides deeper insights into visitors’ destination selection and information search, highlighting the practical implications for destinations to more effectively utilise limited resources to target their marketing, both pre-visit and in-destination.

This study aims to investigate the spatial dependence of international and domestic tourists in 81 Turkish provinces for the period 2001–2013 using spatial statistics and mapping analysis. In the study, data relating to the number of domestic and international tourists participating in tourism movements in Turkey between 2001 and 2013 was used. The obtained results of an autocorrelation value of near zero shows that there is no global spatial pattern at province levels in Turkey. Since the study was conducted at city level, differences within cities could not be studied. Therefore, the spatial distribution of tourists was analyzed by mapping analysis. The west of Turkey receives more visitors compared to the east. International tourists travel in Turkey becomes denser in the southwest and west coasts of the country. An increase can be seen from the west towards the central parts of Turkey in terms of both domestic and international tourists. The effects of projects, designed to increase rest areas to improve mass tourism can be observed in the distribution of the number of tourists. Furthermore, it may be stated that the effects of practiced strategies, such as the spread of tourism nationwide, thereby decreasing regional development differences, can be seen.

As one of the most important economic sectors in China, tourism must be supported in a way that will encourage balanced regional economic development. The spatial distribution of tourism should be evaluated to assess the role of growing tourism in regional economic inequality. Unlike previous studies that focus on international tourism, this paper compares the spatial distributions of international and domestic tourism by using the Mean Log Deviation decomposition method, within and between China’s three economic regions over the period from 1997 to 2010. The results show that, compared with regional economic distribution, imbalance in the spatial distribution of tourism is more pronounced. However, from a dynamic and comparative perspective, this paper asserts that tourism, especially domestic tourism, is a more effective instrument for China’s balanced regional economic development than international tourism.

The profiling crisis-induced domestic tourist behavior in contemporary tourism is a burgeoning discourse. This study addresses the urgent need to proactively predict and manage domestic tourist behavior. Therefore, the study aimed to profile the South African domestic tourist to predict better tourists' behavioral and demand responses considering the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were generated from a pre-recruited panel of South African consumers as potential domestic tourists via an online survey, resulting in a sample of n = 427. Exploratory Factor analysis and a two-step cluster analysis were used to identify the clusters based on the respondents' socio-demographic variables, intrinsic (push) and destination attribute-related pull motives, and constraints and willingness to pay. South African domestic recreational tourists are primarily motivated to travel by their relaxation and self-fulfillment needs and seek primarily nature and adventure activity, with palpable differences in their perceived intrinsic and extrinsic constraints and their willingness to pay for domestic tourism. The study is novel in profiling (the contemporary South African domestic tourist) and contextualizing (tourist behavior during a crisis) domestic tourists within an African tourism context. Thus, providing empirical evidence-based insights into the heterogeneity of domestic tourists based on innate psychographic characteristics and salient perception-oriented attributes as viable market segmentation bases.

This study examines the differences in how domestic and international tourists perceived the image of Yogyakarta as a tourist destination. This survey-based quantitative research used online-questionnaire to collect data from the domestic and international tourists who have visited Yogyakarta. Using a non-probability convenience sampling method, 304 useable questionnaire responses were collected through any social media network. The image of Yogyakarta as a tourist destination in this study consists of four parts: top of mind image, destination visual image selection, cognitive and affective evaluation. To test the different perspectives about cognitive and affective components of an image between domestic and international tourists, a non-parametric Mann-Whitney u-test was performed. The result shows that there is a significant difference in cognitive evaluation about an image of Yogyakarta as a destination nevertheless, no significant difference was found in the affective evaluation. The differences also appeared in the part of visual image selection whereas domestic tourists mostly choose Malioboro as the best picture to describe Yogyakarta while international tourists choose a Temple more than others. At the top-of-mind, international tourists mentioned Borobudur as a part of heritage sites and history frequently while most domestic tourists mentioned art and culture, shopping, and culinary. Furthermore, a methodological issue and practical implication are also discussed.

Based on a news media review, this chapter explores how micro enterprises (MEs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the Norwegian tourism sectors were impacted by COVID-19 in early 2020. It examines central stakeholders' and tourism SMEs and MEs first responses to the pandemic. Similar to previous crises and disasters, the case of COVID-19 demonstrates the reliance on top-down management approaches, notably governmental compensation schemes and subsidies. Given the magnitude of the impacts related to travel bans and border closures, response mechanisms remained largely insufficient. The media reviews reveals that in the first months after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, Norwegian tourism SMEs and MEs have responded in five ways that are to some extent time-displaced yet continue simultaneous: (1) early response to business survival, (2) smaller operational changes, (3) employee layoff and bankruptcies, (4) innovation and alternative income sources and (5) gradual reopening. The Norwegian tourism recovery will strongly rely on domestic tourism which requires a reorientation of communication strategies and Norwegianization (Fornorsking) of product development and innovation. Some Norwegian destinations have already demonstrated that high dependability on international tourists and often disintegrated tourism development may threaten sustainability and prosperity of local communities, and post-COVID-19 recovery strategies will be needed that mitigate the dependence on international markets, mono-seasons or tourism as a mono-industry.

This paper reviews the interfaces between international and domestic tourism and explores a number of associated issues. Within the origin the interface is between domestic tourism and the outbound component of international tourism. Questions arise relating to the different propensities for domestic and outbound travel and reasons accounting for this variation at a national scale — size, national tourist resources and levels of economic development — and at an individual level where motivations and the ability to travel play a major role. Within destinations interfaces exist between domestic tourism and inbound international tourism. Questions there relate to the size and distribution of these two types of tourist traffic, their respective impacts and the interaction between the two groups. Issues raised include those of the substitution of domestic and outbound travel and the formulation of policies whose varied aims are likely to be met by different spatial strategies. Future research needs to examine differences and interactions between domestic and international tourism more fully and explicitly so that more effective policies might be derived.

Restrictions on transportation between countries because of lockdown caused by the prevalence of morbidity COVID-19 have slowed down economic activity worldwide. Therefore, in this paper, we examine and estimate the short-term economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global market situation in terms of the international tourism industry. The purpose of the study is to analyze the current economic situation of the world tourism sector, which suffered the most because of the COVID-19 pandemic, determine the main tourist flows (inbound and outbound tourism), and identify main tourism trends that characterize travel and tourism in 2020, to form practical directions for improving the tourism industry, domestic tourism in particular. This article analyzes the dynamics of international touristic destinations for the period 2019-2020, with regard to the pre-pandemic period and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Also, the dynamics of destinations of international tourists by different regions and the world in general for different types of travel limitations in 2020 are analyzed. It is detected an enhancement in percentage change of tourism destinations from July 2020 because the world began to open up to international tourism, mainly in the European Union. In this article, it is considered that the implementation of travel restrictions is clearly affected international travel. The dynamic of the international tourists’ destinations with a complete/partial closure of borders and other restrictions by region in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic are analyzed. The major trends in the tourism sector during the coronavirus crisis are highlighted. The main practical directions for the resuscitation of the tourism industry have been formed, which will have to reduce the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and created a basis for increasing the competitiveness of domestic tourism. It is determined that support for the development of the tourism industry at the central and local levels should be based on the expected preferences of tourists and the risk of using illegal resorts with the possibility of infection. The article examines the main problems of the tourism sphere of Ukraine, which arise as a result of the introduction of measures to overcome the coronavirus pandemic in the world and in Ukraine in particular. Using the experience of other countries and international recommendations, measures for intersectoral cooperation in the context of increased epidemic risks are proposed. The article reveals the peculiarities of the development of the tourist sphere of Ukraine in the conditions of increased epidemic risks. Modern tendencies of functioning of the tourist sphere of the country are investigated. The tourism sector is suffering on a global scale due to the implementation of measures to overcome the coronavirus pandemic and the uncertainty of further development of the situation. According to various scenarios, in 2020 the volume of international tourist arrivals is expected to fall by 58-78% compared to last year. According to experts, the recovery of demand to the level of 2019 will take at least two years. According to experts, the sphere of tourist services of the coronavirus crisis period will be characterized by giving consumers priority in terms of choice of shorter rest periods, a predominance of individual movement and individual accommodation, choice of health, sea, and rural tourism.

In low-income and middle-income countries, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, the COVID-19 pandemic has had substantial implications for women's wellbeing. Policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the gendered aspect of pandemics; however, addressing the gendered implications of the COVID-19 pandemic comprehensively and effectively requires a planetary health perspective that embraces systems thinking to inequalities. This Viewpoint is based on collective reflections from research done by the authors on COVID-19 responses by international and regional organisations, and national governments, in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa between June, 2020, and June, 2021. A range of international and regional actors have made important policy recommendations to address the gendered implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's health and wellbeing since the start of the pandemic. However, national-level policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been partial and inconsistent with regards to gender in both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, largely failing to recognise the multiple drivers of gendered health inequalities. This Viewpoint proposes that addressing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in low-income and middle-income countries should adopt a systems thinking approach and be informed by the question of who is affected as opposed to who is infected. In adopting the systems thinking approach, responses will be more able to recognise and address the direct gendered effects of the pandemic and those that emerge indirectly through a combination of long-standing structural inequalities and gendered responses to the pandemic.

Past comparisons of willingness-to-pay (WTP) tended to focus on differences between international tourists and domestic tourists. However, this simple distinction does not account for whether visitors from each of the two groups are on multiple-destination trips or not. Our study of visitors to Puerto Rico's rainforest found that whether tourists were on multiple-destination trips or not was an equally important determinant of WTP. Specifically, while WTP of international tourists on multiple-destination trips was the highest at nearly $200 per trip, the second highest was domestic tourists on multiple-destination trips at $163 per trip. International tourists on single-destination trips had a value of $134, while domestic tourists on single-destination trips was the lowest at $110. Prior studies finding that international tourists had higher WTP may, in part, be due to the fact that the majority of domestic tourists take single-destination trips.