Abstract
In the COVID-19 outbreak context, some industries were seriously affected, and the T&T (travel and tourism) industry is unarguably one of those industries. As the world is slowly moving towards a recovery stage, T&T is lagging in the recovery process, mainly because of people’s perception of safety and a new, more cautious behavior when buying products that are not essential for survival, such as T&T products. In order to discover sustainable recovery paths for the industry and the real impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on consumer perceptions and purchasing behavior, the current quantitative research was developed on the basis of two different representative samples in two different moments: May 2020 and December 2020, with a focus on Romania’s population. The main results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced travel patterns and habits regarding philological and economic factors. Psychological factors, primarily the fear of contamination, impact travelers’ willingness to travel and the conditions and preferences for vacation destinations. At least in the medium term, people will avoid traveling in large groups and being in crowded places. Hygiene and health conditions in the host destination can represent essential factors in travel decisions. Confronted with a cautious clientele, tourism businesses (such as transport, accommodation, and catering) should further enhance their hygiene conditions to restore confidence. Moreover, communication is essential in these challenging times to tackle travelers’ fear and concerns.
Highlights
IntroductionAs a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, most tourist destinations were forced to halt operations during 2020 due to lockdown measures and travel bans, canceled bookings, and local logistics
The massive and profound impact of the current pandemic has posed unique economic, social, and health challenges due to its cumulative effects in terms of propagation, global reach, and unprecedented steps taken by governments to contain its spread.As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, most tourist destinations were forced to halt operations during 2020 due to lockdown measures and travel bans, canceled bookings, and local logistics
The results presented focus on the impact of COVID-19 on the Romanian
Summary
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, most tourist destinations were forced to halt operations during 2020 due to lockdown measures and travel bans, canceled bookings, and local logistics. In conjunction, such evolution has placed tourism among the most severely impacted sectors in terms of revenue, jobs, and few available alternatives for maintaining operations during a lockdown. At a global level, the industry accounted for 10.6% of total employment (334 million jobs), 10.4% of global GDP (USD 9.2 trillion), and international. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6781 tourist spending totaled USD 1.7 trillion (27.4% of global services exports) [2]. The broad implementation of travel restrictions in response to the pandemic resulted in a 98% decrease in international tourist arrivals in May 2020 compared to the same month of 2019 [3]
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