Tourism SME sustainability social and economic challenges during pandemic: cases of Russian Federation, Georgia and Latvia

Kristine Berzina,Marina Tsoy,M Tsoy

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202129605016

Abstract

Until 2020, the tourism industry was characterized by a growth rate, the statistics highlight that globally 2019 was the tenth year with a consecutive annual growth. However, the Covid-19 pandemic marked a major turning point in the development of tourism, instead of tourism overdevelopment, the underdevelopment issues appeared in front pages of the industry news. The effects of the pandemic are intensified by the fact that tourism is a labour-intensive industry and that most companies in the sector are SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises). At this time, it is crucially important to look at sustainability issues, therefore the aim of this study is to analyse the social and economic dimensions of sustainability for tourism SMEs. Descriptive statistics as well as qualitative research methods were used to study the challenges posed by the pandemic, in-depth interviews were conducted with tourism SMEs from three different countries. The conclusions show the situation from an enterprise perspective in Russian Federation, Georgia and Latvia.

Highlights

Tourism industry can be characterised as a great contributor to the world economy from an economic perspective
[13] Tourism is one of the most labour-intensive sectors of the economy, and it is among those that are most affected by the pandemic and the pandemic situation pressure is pushing on both social as well as economic sustainability [14, 15].Sustainable socio-economic development as such should be based on both the economic as well as social aspects, it must consider the complex balance of incomes and outcomes of resources used [16 ]
If we look at social indicators, the reduction of the workforce in the Russian Federation during the pandemic is relatively small by only 5.1%, from 4039.7 thousand employees to 3834.0 thousand

Summary

Introduction

Tourism industry can be characterised as a great contributor to the world economy from an economic perspective. It is important to frame that sustainable tourism means minimisation of the negative social, economic and environmental impacts, and maximisation of the positive social, economic and environmental impacts of tourism in destination communities and environments. It can be done by promoting ethical consumption and production among tourists and all stakeholders [8,9], and it would generate greater economic benefits for local people or involve local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances [10]. Socio-economic sustainability can be described as the ability to ensure economic growth without undermining human interests and to meet their needs without harming nature [17]

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion