COVID-19 & Travel

A timely new book authored by University of South Carolina Professor Simon Hudson is fresh off the press documenting the impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry. The book, called COVID-19 & Travel: Impacts, Responses and Outcomes , covers a number of important topics including why the pandemic and travel were inextricably linked, how the different sectors of the industry reacted to the crisis, leadership and communication strategies employed by the industry during the crisis, and the social, economic and environmental impacts of the pandemic as they relate to travel. A dozen insightful case studies from all over the world bring the book to life. We see how the cruise industry suddenly went from being the golden child of the tourism sector to a sober symbol of the deadly disease; we witness the meltdown of ski resorts around the world in one weekend; and we see how Richard Branson coped with what he considers to be his greatest challenge yet. There are also some interesting ‘bes...

  1. First of all, the crisis has highlighted how the tourism and hospitality sector is particularly vulnerable to ‘uncontrollable’ events , and for some destinations or sectors that were over-dependent on tourism, the pandemic has been a wake-up call. Destinations are beginning to recognize the need for a more diversified economy in order to weather the ups and downs of tourism - Barbados for example is targeting long-stay digital nomads to replace tourists. 2. Second, what the crisis has also shown is that businesses in the travel sector must be willing to adapt and change their business models in order to survive . I call this ‘COVID-aptability’, and it will be a crucial management skill moving forward. Many organizations did pivot successfully during lockdown: restaurants focused on takeout and delivery for income; commercial airlines flew critical medical supplies and other cargo around the world; and hotels offered people a facility to self-isolate and prot...

Spenceley, A. (2021). Review of “COVID-19 & Travel: Impacts, Responses and Outcomes” in Tourism Geographies . https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616688.2020.1866059 Weissmann, A. (2020). The pandemic's Book of Genesis.   Travel Weekly , 10 September.   https://www.travelweekly.com/Arnie-Weissmann/The-pandemics-Book-of-Genesis   Bowerman, G. (2020). COVID-19 & Travel: Impacts, Responses and Outcomes. Exclusive review of an impressive new book by Simon Hudson. Asia Travel Re:Set #10, 7 October.  https://asiatravelreset.substack.com/p/asia-travel-reset-10-covid-19-and?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cta Daye, M. (2020). Review of “COVID-19 & Travel: Impacts, Responses and Outcomes” in International Journal of Tourism Policy Ecoclub (2020). COVID-19 and Travel, new book reviews its devastating impact on the travel sector, 2 July.  https://ecoclub.com/headlines/reviews/1322-200702-covid-...