The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Walt Disney Company

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had severe effects on the global economy in 2020. Among the most affected sectors were tourism and the entertainment industry, whose poor performance affected businesses that relied on the two sectors health. The Walt Disney Company comprised such companies, having diversified into business units that aligned themselves with the two sectors. The present paper examined the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on Disney by analyzing the performance of its business units. To do so, it sought to answer two research questions exploring the effects of the pandemic on the tourism and entertainment industries. The paper utilized a case study approach in that it evaluated Disney in isolation to other companies and conducted an in-depth analysis on the company. Results show that the pandemic had negative impacts on the tourism sector, but a mix of negative and positive effects on the entertainment industry. Negative effects included a loss of tourism numbers and a decline in the theatrical entertainment sector, while positive effects included the growth of video streaming services. Those effects translated to impacts on businesses such as Disney, whose diversified operations expose it to the tourism and entertainment sectors. Thus, business units that relied on tourism suffered negative effects, while those dependent on the entertainment sector recorded some positive effects. The paper concludes by recommending that Disney focus its efforts on growing SBUs that demonstrated resilience during the pandemic, such as the Direct-to-Consumer and International SBU that relies on the entertainment industry.