Tourism in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Towards Sustainable Regional Development

Abstract

T&T confirms its importance, as it contributes significantly to global GDP and creates jobs worldwide. These numbers began to decline as the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world, and more than 90% of the population came under restrictions. Travel restrictions and lockdowns hit the T&T sector hard, responding together with economic indicators. International tourism is almost at a halt, and traditional, unsustainable business models are not working any more. In order to survive, the transformation of the T&T sector is essential. This raises the question whether the crisis situation could not only have negative effects, but at the same time could be the moment for the long-needed chance to rethink tourism, considering a regional and more sustainable approach. As travel restrictions cover the world, the focus is on the regional level, the area that has the right to make territorially and regionally relevant decisions. The aim of the research is to evaluate the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects on tourism, considering whether it could be a change towards sustainable regional development. Methods of analysis and synthesis of scientific literature, statistical data analysis, situation modelling, and logical conclusions are applied, to estimate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourism, to assess the challenges and opportunities in tourism in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and to evaluate possible changes in tourism towards sustainable regional development.