RESEARCH PROJECT ON

“________________________________________”
SUBMITTED TO
UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

NAME OF THE STUDENT

“__________________________”

ACCADEMIC YEAR
2020-21

RIZVI COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCE & COMMERCE

[AFFILIATED TO UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI]
(DEPARTMENT OF HOSPITALITY STUDIES)
BANDRA (W), MUMBAI - 400050

1
 RIZVI COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCE & COMMERCE
(DEPARTMENT OF HOSPITALITY STUDIES)

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr/Ms ____________________a student of

University of Mumbai, has submitted a Project Report titled
________________________________________________under the
guidance and supervision in connection his/her Bachelor Degree in
Hospitality Studies.

MR/MS.____________________ MR.PADMAKUMARNAIR
(Guide) (Principal)

Signature of the External Examiner:

Date: _______________
Place: _______________

2
 DECLARATION

I, MS/Mr.______________________ student of Rizvi College of

Arts, Science and Commerce Hospitality Studies, hereby declare I
have completed this project entitled
“_____________________________”. In Academic year 2020- 2021.
The information submitted is true and original is true and original to
the best of my knowledge.

Signature of the student: _______________

Seat No/Roll No :
Class/Batch : SYBSC ______ BATCH
Date :

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude towards my guide Mr.Ms.
____________for valuable guidance and constant supervision as well
as for providing necessary information and for their support in
completing the project.
I extend my thanks to our respected Principal Mr. Padmakumar Nair
for supporting and providing facilities required.
My thanks and appreciation also goes to industry experts for giving
me such attention and time, my parents and people who have
willingly helped me out with their abilities.

(_______Name of the student___)

Date: ___________

4
 INDEX
Sr.no Page no.
TITLE
1 ABSTRACT 6
2 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY 7
3 INTRODUCTION 8
4 13
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18
6 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERVIEW 34
7 54
RESULTS
8 55
CONCLUSION
9 57
OUTCOME & SCOPE FOR STUDY FURTHER
10 64
LIMITATION
11 BIBLIOGRAPHY 65

5
 ABSTRACT

Purpose – This article discusses the effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and
management practices and outlines a three-pronged research agenda to stimulate knowledge
development in the hotel sector. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on an
overview of the relevant literature on hotel marketing and management as well as the hotel
guest behavior. The authors also investigated hospitality service trends to propose a research
agenda. Findings – This paper presents a research agenda from three dimensions – artificial
intelligence (AI) and robotics, hygiene and cleanliness, and health and healthcare. First,
different types of AI (mechanical, thinking, and feeling) might open up distinct research
streams at the intersection of health crises and hotel management, in light of the COVID-19
pandemic. Additionally, this paper recommends that researchers move beyond typical
perspectives on the antecedents and outcomes of hotel hygiene and cleanliness to delve into
guests’ perceptions of the cleanliness of specific hotel surfaces. Furthermore, a more in-depth
analysis is warranted about the evolving relationship between hotels and the healthcare
sector. Practical implications – The recommended research areas are intended to advance the
knowledge base to help hotels recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The suggested
research streams are expected to provide actionable insights to promote the development and
sustainability of the hotel sector. 2 Originality/value – This article appears to be a frontier
study, critically examining possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on hotel marketing
and management practices and how hoteliers may respond to such challenges to recover after
this pandemic. Keywords Artificial intelligence and robotics; hygiene and cleanliness; health
and healthcare; hotel management; COVID-19 pandemic Paper type – Perspective article.

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 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The study is based upon the following objectives.

1. The primary objective of the study is to explain the impact of COVID-19

on the tourism and hospitality sector in Ladakh.

2. To assess the losses suffered by the hotels, guest house, home stays and
restaurants.

3. Toanalyse the impact of COVID-19 on the travel agents, taxis operators

and small retailers

4. To study the measures taken by the UT administration to compensate the

losses incurred.

5. To recommend the action plan for recovery and survival of the tourism and
hospitality sector from COVID-19 outbreak.

7
 INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to an unprecedented social and economic
crisis. Till a vaccine is discovered and made available, the dilemma of remaining locked
down and braving the virus will remain a challenge for mankind. While the pandemic pans
out at different trajectories and pace in various parts of the world, in India, according to
experts, it is reaching its peak. Accordingly, the Government has started a process of unlock
down in stages, starting in June 2020. Suspension of all economic activities for a 4-month
period has had a devastating impact on the lives of millions. Globally, the Travel and
Tourism sector grew at a rate of 3.5 per cent, and contributed USD 8.9 trillion to world GDP.

The hotel industry is vulnerable to threats posed by unexpected catastrophes such as

epidemics, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks outbreak, the Korean hotel industry installed
new hygiene equipment and offered employees education programs concerning health
awareness (Mao et al., 2010). It is thus essential for hoteliers to address changes in consumer
demand following the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic and restore travellers’ confidence.
As the COVID-19 crisis is likely to have unprecedented effects on hotels around the world,
researchers should work to strengthen theory and knowledge in this crucial hospitality sector
to help hotels become more resilient and achieve effective post-disaster recovery.

On the effects of large-scale public health crises (e.g., SARS in 2003) and the current trends
in the hotel industry, this paper details specific areas to provide insights for academics and
practitioners to navigate hotel marketing and management after the COVID-19 pandemic.
First, hotel operators are beginning to pay closer attention to the potential benefits of artificial
intelligence (AI) and its applications, such as robotics, in hotel management practices.

This pace of growth was higher than the rate of global GDP growth. Further, the Travel,
Tourism and Hospitality sector is credited with creating 330 million jobs in 2019 alone across
the world, which comes to one in every 10 jobs that were created. This sector accounts for
more than one third of the global services sector. Its growth rate facilitated the creation of
more and better jobs requiring a diverse portfolio of skills and capabilities. Hence, this sector
has achieved the distinction of being a growth engine globally for nine consecutive years due
to a variety of reasons -- higher disposable incomes, technological advances, affordable travel
and better work/life balance, amongst others. It is worthwhile to note that the global
economy/ growth rate of GDP did not match the same pace of growth for the same period .

8
This shows a certain level of resilience of the sector, which has contributed 10.3 per cent to
the global GDP in 2019. India, with its geographically and culturally varied landscape,
attracts travellers for a multitude of reasons: business, leisure, health, pilgrimage andbeing
the home to 38 UNESCO World Heritage sites. The Indian Travel and Tourism industry grew
at a rate of 4.9 per cent year on year basis. It contributed USD 194 billion to the Indian
economy in 2019. The Indian tourism industry employs 8.75 crore people (12.75 per cent of
the total employed population in 2018-19), such as people from the hospitality industry, tour
operators, travel agents, home stay owners, drivers, guides, small traders, artisans and
craftsmen among a host of other service providers. The sector also has strong forward and
backward linkages to other sectors such as agriculture, transport, handloom, and FMCG to
name a few. This rate of growth was helped by positive incentives and policy push by the
Government, professionalization of the industry and tremendous growth in domestic travel
spending. The growth in spends on domestic tourism from USD 131 billion in 2012 to
approximately USD 200 billion in 2018 was expected to double to approximately, USD 406
billion by 2028. While the INR 20 lakh crore economic recovery package announced by the
Prime Minister has assuaged some apprehensions, some sectors that have been more affected
than others, and sectors that could help with economic recovery have been overlooked.
Tourism, is one such industry which has been ignored in this recovery package.

9
The ongoing pandemic, travel restrictions, and the country-wide lockdown have brought the
entire tourism industry to a standstill, and unlike other sectors, tourism will take longer to
recover, especially leisure tourism. But history suggests that this is one industry which could
see a faster turnaround than many other sectors and still play a pivotal role as a growth engine
of the economy. Instead of attempting to narrowly forecast and control outcomes, we need to
design systems that are robust and adaptable enough to weather a wide range of possible
futures in the post Covid era.

The spread of COVID-19 and large-scale travel restrictions continue to wreak havoc on the
global tourism and hospitality industry. According to an open letter from Gloria Guevara,
President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, “50 million jobs globally are at
risk” because of the pandemic. The letter further indicates that the travel and tourism sector is
“already facing collapse” and is “in a fight for survival” due to the COVID-19 global health
crisis (Guevara, 2020). Hotels are especially susceptible to reduced tourism and travel along
with a slowdown in economic activity (Hoisington, 2020).

As events across the globe continue to be cancelled or postponed and hotel occupancy rates
plummet, the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted severe blows on hoteliers worldwide. For
example, in February 2020, revenue-peravailable-room (RevPAR) at Marriott hotels fell by
nearly 90% in Greater China and declined by 25% in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region
compared with the same period last year (Wallis, 2020). It is predicted that RevPAR in the
U.S., Europe, and Asia will continue to decline as leisure and business travel is delayed or
cancelled due to fear of COVID-19 (Courtney, 2020).

10
The decade 2020 started with a much unsettling and unfortunate occurrence of new disease in
the line of over 30 novel infections that the world has experienced in past 30 years. This time
the nomenclature given to the new severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak was
the novel corona virus. Later termed COVID-19, the disease represented an atypical
pneumonia that started in China, and later spread across nations’ the world over. Countries
like United States of America, Brazil, India, Italy, Spain, France, South Korea, Italy, Iran and
many more are experiencing unprecedented spread of the disease and life loss from past
several months.

The impact of current corona virus outbreak till date has long surpassed those that were
observed during SARS epidemic in 2002−2003. Corona virus cases stand at over 10 million
worldwide and the reported deaths due to the infection have crossed 500,000
(https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/). The enormity of this outbreak can be
imagined from the fact that even the leaders and prominent people couldn’t escape from the
infection, for instance the virus infected British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had
earlier warned citizens of the United Kingdom to prepare for the potential loss of lives in the
country.

11
Akin to COVID 19, the previous SARS outbreak was characterized by its rapid spread, which
led to travel advisories issued by World Health Organization (WHO). Travel restrictions and
advisories have again revealed the vulnerability of the tourism and hospitality industry. The
isolation of a cruise ship in Japan carrying virus infected tourists marked only the beginning
of latest tragedy that still continues to unfold. The outbreak brought fears among
unsuspecting tourists who had to quarantine themselves while on board. The infections and
deaths on board portended the future of delicate tourism and hospitality industry across the
globe. Till date researches have prominently pointed at previous SARS outbreak (2002),
whenever discussion on threat (health crises) to tourism and hospitality industry was
discussed (see for example Table 1 ). However, this time onwards, COVID-19 pandemic is
likely to become a prominent reference point in the related texts.

12
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

(ZABIN, 2019)

An increasing number of studies have focused on hotel-related impacts of AI and robotics at

the individual and organizational level (e.g., Li et al., 2019; Lu et al., 2019; Tussyadiah,
2020; Wing and Tung, 2018). In addition, given the role of social distancing as an effective
prevention strategy against COVID-19, adopting AI and robotics in hotels – especially in
high-contact scenarios – can help to protect guests and frontline service employees.
Therefore, we focus on AI and robotics as a theme in hotel management and marketing post-
COVID-19. Second, hygiene and cleanliness are essential to successful hotel operations and
have garnered increased attention after public health crises such as the 2003 SARS outbreak.

(KIM ET AL., 2005). ACCORDING TO NGUYEN ET AL. (2017)

Hotels at a coastal destination in Japan provided accommodation, refuge, and provisions to

evacuees when this region was devastated by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and
Tsunami. In this paper, we focus on epidemics: As tourists’ concerns about security and
health risks increase, epidemics can directly affect individuals’ travel behaviourSpecifically,
hygiene and cleanliness have been widely discussed in terms of the hotel industry recovery.

CHIEN AND LAW, 2003; HENDERSON AND NG, 2004; LO ET AL., 2006).

Studies show that customers are influenced by hygiene and cleanliness conditions when
making purchase decisions in a service environment.

13
HOFFMAN ET AL., 2003; VILNAI-YAVETZ AND GILBOA, 2010; ZEMKE ET AL.,
2015).

Hygiene and cleanliness issues have been considered in pandemic outbreaks as a culprit of
disease (Alan et al., 2016). Thus, when predicting the hotel industry’s recovery post-COVID-
19, hygiene and cleanliness must be focal points given the severe effects of this pandemic and
hotel guests’ higher safety-related expectations during travel. 4 Moreover, according to Wen
et al. (2020), health will be a key influencing factor in the tourism and hospitality industry
recovery after the COVID-19 outbreak due to the residual fear associated with this pandemic
and similar diseases.

CHEN ET AL. (2007)

Similarly, reported that during the 2003 SARS outbreak, public healthcare facilities played
imperative roles in pandemic prevention and control. As COVID-19 has led to more than 3
million cases and 215,000 deaths (Johns Hopkins University, 2020), hotel-based healthcare
facilities can reassure guests in the event of an emergency during travel. Essentially, this
article discusses the possible effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management
practices and outlines a research agenda from three dimensions – AI and robotics, hygiene
and cleanliness, and health and healthcare – to encourage research and knowledge
development in the hotel sector.

(CHAN AND LAM, 2013; CHEN, 2011; JAYAWARDENA ET AL., 2008; HUNG ET
AL., 2018; LO ET AL., 2006; MIN ET AL., 2009; PARASKEVAS, 2013; RACHERLA
AND HU, 2009).

Different types of catastrophes bring distinct industry consequences and prompt hoteliers to
take measures to tackle various challenges caused by crises. For example, hoteliers in Hong
Kong introduced toughened security by upgrading the closed circuit television (CCTV)
systems and intensifying safety training for hotel employees following the 9/11 attacks (Chan
and Lam, 2013). After the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

14
(ROTHAN & BYRAREDDY, 2020).

It was first detected in Wuhan, China with 41 patients having laboratory confirmed
COVID-19 infection, and reported to the office of World Health Organisation China
on 31 December 2019 (Gossling, Scot & Hall, 2020). It is believed these patients have got
virus from the seafood wet animals wholesale market in Wuhan.

(BAGOCH, WATTS, THOMAS-BACHLI, HUBER, KRAEMER & KHAN, 2020).

As on 30th January 2020, around 7700 cases were reported in China and around
90 cases were reported out of China in different countries (Rothan&
Byrareddy, 2020). On that day the World Health Organisation declared it
as a public health emergency and state that the spread of virus can be
curtailed by early detection, isolation, prompt treatment, and vigorous
system of contact tracing.

(SOHRABI, ALSAFI, O’NEILL, KHAN, KERWAN, AL-JABIR & AGHA, 2020).

On 11th March 2020 World Health Organisation declared it as pandemic. However, the
outbreak of COVID-19 is not a first pandemic threat that world has observed, there has been
different major pandemic outbreaks in twentieth and twenty-first centuries, such as in
1918-1920 Spanish Flu which took life of about 100 million people, 1960 HIV/AIDS which
leads to death of around 35 million people, 2009 swine flu (influenza) with 284000 deaths.

15
(HALL, SCOT & GOSSLING, 2020).(HUANG AND RUST, 2020).

More specifically, different types of AI (mechanical, thinking, and feeling) might open up
distinct research streams at the intersection of health crises and hotel management, in light of
the COVID-19 pandemic. The present paper recommends that researchers investigate how
mechanical AI can be used in hotels to transform routine and repetitive human services to
contactless services at hotel frontlines. In the context of COVID-19 and similar health crises,
mechanical AI can be adopted in hotels to complete cleaning and sanitization tasks or to
assist hotel staff’s duties. For example, robots can monitor the cleanliness of high-traffic
areas, such as the amount of dirt or debris in hallway corridors and elevators, to alert the
cleaning staff of locations in need of attention. From this perspective, it would be worthwhile
to unearth the thoughts and feelings of hotel guests when they receive more contactless
services while having fewer opportunities to obtain human-based services. Areas to address
in the future also include how cleaning and disinfection procedures of hotel properties could
be carried out effectively by AI-driven robotics and how to develop robotfriendly hospitality
facilities for AI-driven robotics to perform their tasks

(MARIANI AND PEREZ, 2020)

The success of these innovations relies heavily on the individual customer’s relationship
with technology (Wen et al., 2020b). Moreover, as the COVID-19 pandemic and its
consequences have led to fears, worries, and anxiety among travelers, it is especially
important to show empathy and understanding in hotel services and to delight customers
(Jiang, 2019) during this challenging period. Therefore, a greenfield for research is to explore
what role feeling AI would play for customer care in hotels, as well as how feeling AI could
assist human service employees to deliver personalized services and develop personalized
relationships with hotel guests.

(DAVENPORT AND RONANKI, 2018).

Given these trends in the hotel marketing and management practice, it is crucial for future
research to investigate the role that process automation, cognitive insight, and cognitive
engagement might play in helping hotels address challenges posed by public health crises and
discuss how hotels should employ AI solutions to deal with consequences caused by
epidemics.

16
MALHOTRA AND VENKATESH (2009)
 

Contrasted the preparedness for SARS outbreak between Thailand and Hong Kong, and
found Hong Kong’s response to be better in containing the detrimental effects of the disease.
They also accentuated on the framework proposed by Pacific Asia Travel Association
(PATA) to address the eventualities. The framework included reduction (early warning signs
detection), readiness (related preparedness), responses (operations during eventualities), and
recovery (studier attempts to return to normalcy) 

 (MALHOTRA AND VENKATESH, 2009).

More recently attempted to explore the issue that small enterprises in hospitality faced during
the ongoing crisis and offered preliminary frameworks through inductive analysis. The
exploratory work resulted in nine theoretical dimensions that revealed the actions and
reactions of hospitality actors toward coping with crisis.

(MOHANTY, 2020; KONARASINGHE, 2020; MARQUES ET AL., 2020; YEOLEKAR ET AL., 2020).

Effects of pandemic on tourism and hospitality in India are continuing to become serious with
the sector embracing for higher unemployment rates. The potential job loss in tourism and
hospitality has been estimated at 38 million, which is 70 percent of the industry workforce
Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH) has doubled the
estimates of losses in India’s tourism sector from earlier INR 5 lakh Crore to INR 10 Lakh
Crore .The pandemic effects will be effectively visible on the country’s inbound, outbound
and domestic tourism, adventure travel, business travel, and cruise holidays (Dash, 2020).
Post lockdown predictions and preparations would need a better understanding of the current
situation.

17
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The current investigation considers an outbreak that continues to unfold while this study is
underway. The situation is novel and not much is known about this ongoing and ever
expanding catastrophe. In the instances of newer problems for which understanding needs to
be developed, qualitative methods can offer critical insights. Given the circumstances, it was
felt appropriate to take a qualitative stance of research, in that the method of data collection
was considered to be the email interviews. Email interviews are becoming a commonplace in
qualitative research, and in current circumstances where social distancing has been widely
practiced, it was felt to be most appropriate for the current investigation. In this way of data
collection the interview questions may be pasted into the emails or separate document may be
attached to the email. Email interviews are also termed as cost effective when compared to
the telephonic or face to face interviews, yet can yield in-depth information from the
participants. In the current study with a limited sample size, judgemental sampling was used,
which is a non-probability sampling. For the research problem at hand a set of senior industry
personnel and academics were considered to be appropriate for garnering responses. In
judgmental sampling the onus lies on the researchers to select the elements from the
population based on the samples’ representation of the population of interest. It was deemed
necessary to sample individuals in senior positions, because they are met with the immediate
challenge of answerability during adversities. This also restricted the sample size, yet non-
probabilistic nature of sampling rendered in the selection of most suitable candidates.

18
Research Approaches Used The reviewed papers used different research approaches and
focused on various subjects related to the hospitality industry during the COVID-19
pandemic.

However, all papers have been classified into six groups as follows: (1) developing
simulation and scenario modeling, (2) reporting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, (3)
comparing the COVID-19 pandemic with previous public health crises, (4) measuring
impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of economics, (5) discussing the resumption of
activities during and after the pandemic, and (6) conducting surveys. Since some of the
reviewed papers belong to more than one group, these have been assigned to the dominant
group.

Developing Simulation & Scenario Modeling Eight included papers in this review applied
simulation & scenario modeling to estimate aspects of tourism demand and the COVID-19
spreading pattern. The studies used different models and analyses, including a dynamic
stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model, supply and demand curve, agent-based model,
epidemiological model, and susceptible exposed infected recovered (SEIR) model. Yang et
al. [2] applied DSGE, a macroeconomics technique that depicts economic phenomena based
on the general equilibrium framework, to investigate the impacts of increasing health disaster
risk (the pandemic) and its persistence on the model parameters such as tourism demand. He
incorporated two indicators (health status, and health disaster) and three categories of
decisionmakers (the government, households, and producers) into the DSGE model
concerning the tourism sector. The findings are not surprising and point out that the longer
pandemic will have a more devastating effect on the hospitality industry. Bakar and Rosbi [1]
utilized a supply and demand curve to analyze the economic impact of COVID-19 on the
hospitality industry. In order to develop the supply and demand curve, the demand function
was created by using factors of price setting of selected goods, tastes and preferences of
customers, customers' expectations, the average income of certain countries, and the number
of buyers. Meantime, the Comparing COVID-19 with previous public health … Conducting
surveys, 5 Measuring the impacts of COVID-19 in terms of economics, 5 Developing
simulation & scenario modeling, 8 Reporting the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

19
Discussing resumption of activities during and after the pandemic , The reviewed papers used
different research approaches and focused on various subjects related to the hospitality
industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, all papers have been classified into six
groups as follows: (1) developing simulation and scenario modeling, (2) reporting impacts of
the COVID-19 pandemic, (3) comparing the COVID-19 pandemic with previous public
health crises, (4) measuring impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of economics, (5)
discussing the resumption of activities during and after the pandemic, and (6) conducting
surveys. Since some of the reviewed papers belong to more than one group, these have been
assigned to the dominant group.

Reporting the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Seventeen papers applied secondary data
analysis to report COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on the hospitality industry. Because of the
ongoing pandemic and publication time of included papers, secondary data sources have been
invaluable for most studies in this review. The studies reported impacts of the pandemic on
different aspects of the hospitality industry, including job loss, revenue losses, access to
loans, market demand, emerging new markets, hostile behaviors towards foreigners, and
issues of hospitality workers and hotel cleaners. Nicola et al summarized the pandemic’s
impact on the global economy by reviewing news distributed by mass-media, government
reports, and published papers.

20
To better understand the impacts of the pandemic, the study divided the world economy into
three sectors of primary (including agriculture, and petroleum & oil), secondary (including
manufacturing industry), and tertiary (including education, finance industry, healthcare,
hospitality tourism and aviation, real estate, sports industry, information technology, and food
sector). They reported job loss, revenue losses, and decreasing market demand in the
hospitality, tourism, and aviation sectors. Ozili and Arun provided a list of COVID-19
statistics, including confirmed cases, confirmed deaths, recovered cases in several countries
and continents, and discussed the global impact of COVID-19 on the travel and restaurant
industries. The study reviewed different policy measures implemented by different countries
around the world to deal with COVID-19. Ozili and Arun categorized these into four groups
of (1) human control measures; (2) public health measures; (3) fiscal measures; and (4)
monetary measures. In the human control policies measures, different actions including
foreign travel restrictions, internal travel restrictions, state of emergency declarations,
limiting mass gathering, closing down of schools, and restricting shops and restaurants, have
also been identified.

Several studies reported the effect of COVID-19 on specific critical domains of the
hospitality industry, such as undocumented workers and hotel cleaners.

21
Williams and Kayaoglu argued that the most vulnerable workers in the industry need
governmental financial support but cannot receive assistance, most likely because they are
undocumented immigrants. Furthermore, Rosemberg highlighted the issues of job insecurity,
risk of exposure to COVID-19, lack of health insurance, added pressure due to increased
workload, and extra time required for ensuring complete disinfection during the pandemic
[50]. Other studies focused on the pandemic’s impacts on specific countries, including China,
Malaysia, Nepal, and India. Wen et al. reviewed literature and news on Chinese tourist
behavior, tourism marketing, and tourism management; they concluded the growing
popularity of luxury trips, free and independent travel, and medical and wellness tourism
post-COVID-19 period. They indicated that new forms of tourism would be more prevalent
in post-COVID-19, including (1) slow tourism, which emphasizes local destinations and
longer lengths of stay, and (2) SMART tourism, which uses data analytics to improve
tourists’ experiences.

22
Comparing COVID-19 with Previous Public Health Crises Two papers compared the
COVID-19 pandemic with previous public health crises. In the first study, lessons learned
from previous crises and pandemics are discussed, including malaria, yellow fever, Ebola,
Zika virus, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV), avian influenza (H5N1),
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (Mad Cow disease), swine flu (H1N1), and severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS). This paper concluded that the impacts of COVID-19 on the global
economy and China’s tourism and hospitality industry, in particular, are likely to differ from
previous pandemics, from which the tourism and hospitality industry recovered relatively
quickly. Gössling et al. reviewed the impact of previous crises on global tourism, including
the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak (2015), the global economic crisis
(2008–2009), the SARS outbreak (2003), and the September 11 terrorist attacks (2001). The
authors indicated that previous crises did not have long-term impacts on global tourism. The
authors also warned about increasing pandemic threats for several reasons, including the fast-
growing world population, rapidly developing global public transportation systems, and
increasing consumption of processed/low-nutrition foods. Gössling et al. also discussed the
impact of COVID-19 on different hospitality industry sectors.

23
The authors distinguished the impact of COVID-19 in view of two different aspects of (1)
observed impacts (e.g., declines in hotel occupancy rates, liquidity problems in the restaurant
industry); and (2) projected impacts (e.g., revenue forecasts in the accommodations sector,
estimation of revenues). The still-evolving understanding of the coronavirus’s behavior
makes it difficult to predict the industry’s recovery in the near future. However, suggestions
have already been made for post-COVID-19 management of the tourism and hospitality
industry. These include: (1) focusing primarily on domestic tourism; (2) ending mass tourism
and pilgrimage tourism; (3) focusing more on conference tourism, virtual reality tourism, and
medical tourism; and (4) building a more sustainable tourism and hospitality industry rather
than a return to “business as usual.

Five papers measured the impacts of the pandemic on the hospitality industry in terms of
economics. These studies used different models and analyses, including seasonal
autoregressive integrated moving average model, scenario analysis, and trend analysis. The
economic impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry has been examined in
terms of lost earnings or jobs. Centeno and Marquez [29] developed seasonal autoregressive
integrated moving average models for the Philippines’ tourism and hospitality industry,
forecasting the total earnings loss of around 170.5 billion PHP (Philippine Peso)—equivalent
to $3.37 billion—from COVID-19 just until the end of July 2020.

24
To ease the pandemic’s effects on the hospitality industry, the authors propose dividing the
country into two regions according to the level of infection risk (high-risk and low-risk of
COVID-19) to allow domestic travel into low-risk regions or areas.

Günayetal.applied a scenario analysis technique to calculate the impact of COVID-19 on

Turkey’s tourism and hospitality industry. Their model predicts the total loss of revenues in
the best and the worst scenarios as $1.5 billion and $15.2 billion, respectively, for 2020. The
worst-case scenario involves the closing of borders for four months without any economic
recovery. The authors indicated that this would be one of Turkey’s worst tourism crises under
the worst-case scenario, exceeding the losses from public health crises due to Swine flu,
Avian Flu, and SARS. Mehta estimated the effect of COVID-19 on India’s economy at an
earnings loss of about $28 billion in 2020, along with 70% job losses for tourism and
hospitality workers, and mass bankruptcies.

25
Trend analysis was also used to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the global tourism and
hospitality industry and global GDP. According to Priyadarshini, the real global GDP growth
will drop from 2.9% in 2019 to 2.4% by the end of 2020, while global revenues for the
tourism and hospitality industry will drop by 17% compared to 2019. The study also predicts
that North America, Europe, and Asia will experience the most massive losses in global
revenues. The tourism and hospitality revenues will fall in the U.S., Germany, Italy, and
China by 10%, 10%, 24%, and 40%, respectively.

26
Analyzed the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the U.S. labor market. The study calculated
that about 13 million paid jobs were lost between March 14 to 28, 2020. To better understand
this number’s significance, the authors pointed out that only nine million private payroll
employment jobs were lost during the Great Recession of the 1930s (less than 70% of the
pandemic job loss). The study also highlighted that the leisure and hospitality industry was
the hardest hit and most affected industrial sector.

Resumption of Activities during and after the Pandemic Thirteen papers recommended
various remedial and management actions for the resumption of activities during and after the
pandemic. The consequences of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry, such as empty hotels
and loss of jobs, are discussed in one paper that offers a positive outlook that the industry will
receive a significant flow of guests upon the easing of travel bans and restrictions. The author
stressed the importance of support for the hospitality industry during the pandemic and the
need for proper guidance to ensure successful reopening during the post-pandemic period.

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Taking a different perspective, another study suggests that the hospitality industry may not do
well after the lifting of travel bans and mobility restrictions.

The study refers to a survey that found more than half of the participants would not order
food even after the pandemic ends. The author also recommends a series of actions for
restaurants to attract customers in the post-COVID-19 period, such as including island-sitting
arrangements to assure maximum physical distances between people, live cooking counters to
allow customers to watch their food being prepared to instill confidence in its safety, and
having appropriate hygiene and cleaning procedures throughout.

Investigated the impact of COVID-19 on hotel operations and recommended a series of

actions for hotel owners and managers, including using fewer rooms (reducing hotel
capacity); emphasizing take-out or delivery options to reduce public dining, implementing
intensified cleaning/sanitizing protocols; committing to the use of personal protective
equipment (PPE) for workers and increasing attention to personal hygiene; communicating
new COVID-19 policies to guests and employees; implementing physical distancing practices
in public areas, and implementing protocols for guests exposed to or infected by COVID-19.

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It should be noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) produced a guide titled
“Operational Considerations for COVID-19 Management in the Accommodations Sector” to
provide practical assistance to the hospitality sector in particular.

The report is divided into sections for the management team, reception and concierge,
technical and maintenance services, restaurants and dining rooms and bars, recreational areas
for children, and cleaning and housekeeping with a list of responsibilities to help manage the
threat of COVID-19. Furthermore, Jain discussed different hotel industry strategies to bring
back customers, including disposable utensils in rooms, emphasizing staff health and
hygiene, and using UV light to disinfect. Specific steps for an exit strategy and the reopening
of activities in different business sectors are presented by Peterson et al.. Primary steps
include implementing widespread COVID-19 testing, having enough PPE supply, lifting
social distancing and mobility restrictions, using electronic surveillance, and implementing
strategies to decrease workplace transmission.

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Emphasis was placed on the daily screening of hospitality sector staff for COVID-19 by
using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or serology tests. In this
aspect, another study used primary and secondary data and applied the descriptive analysis
method to explore revitalization strategies for small and medium-sized businesses, especially
in the tourism industry, after COVID-19 in Yogyakarta. The study recommended several
policies, such as implementing banks’ credit policies with simpler processes and lower
interest. Several papers discussed redesigning and transforming the tourism and hospitality
industry after COVID_19 pandemic. The proposed ideas include increasing resilience and
security of the tourism and hospitality workforce in post-COVID-19 by cross-training and
teaching different skills to workers; exploiting the unique opportunity presented by COVID-
19 to transform and refocus the tourism and hospitality industry towards local attractions
rather than global destinations, and redesigning spaces to assure a 6-foot distance between
tourists. Hao et al. developed a COVID-19 management framework as a result of reviewing
the overall impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on China’s hotel industry.

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The framework contains three main elements of an anti-pandemic process, principles, and
anti-pandemic strategies. The anti-pandemic process adopted the six phases of disaster
management, including the pre-event phase (taking prerequisite actions), the prodromal phase
(observing the warning signs), the emergency phase (taking urgent actions), the intermediate
phase (bringing back essential community services), the recovery phase (taking self-healing
measures), the resolution phase (restoring the routine). Hao et al.recommended four
principles for the different phases of disaster management, including disaster assessment,
ensuring employees’ safety, customer & property, self-saving, and activating & revitalizing
business. Finally, the study discussed the main anti-pandemic strategies in the categories of
leadership & communication, human resource, service provision, corporate social
responsibility, finance, and standard operating procedure. Recently, Sönmez et al reviewed
the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant hospitality workers’ health and safety.

The study indicated that while a significant rise in occupational stress has been observed in
immigrant hospitality workers over the past 15–20 years, the COVID-19 pandemic can add
more pressure on workers and potentially deteriorate their mental and physical health
condition. The authors recommended different actions in aspects of public and corporate
policy, workplace policy, and future research areas.

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Conducting Surveys Five papers conducted survey studies to investigate different hospitality
industry aspects, including social costs, customer preference, expected chance of survival,
and travel behavior. Qiu et al. developed the contingent valuation method to estimate costs
borne by residents of tourist destinations (social costs) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contingent valuation is a survey-based economic technique for the valuation of non-market
resources. The survey asks questions about how much money residents would be willing to
pay to keep a specific resource. The study attempted to investigate how residents perceive the
risk of tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. By considering three Chinese urban
destinations, Qiuetal.quantified tourism’s social costs during the pandemic.

The results indicate that most residents were willing to pay for risk reduction, but this
payment differs based on respondents’ age and income. Alonso et al. focused on the theory of
resilience and conducted a survey from a sample of 45 small hospitality businesses to answer
questions about participants’ main concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. How small
hospitality businesses are handling this disruption. Furthermore, what are the impacts of the
pandemic on day-to-day activities. Alonso et al analyzed the qualitative responses through
content analysis. The study highlighted nine theoretical dimensions about owners-managers’
actions and alternatives when confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic. Kim and Lee
studied the impacts of the perceived threat of the COVID-19 pandemic on customers’
preference for private dining facilities. The study conducted a survey and concluded that the
salience of the COVID-19 increases customers’ preference for private dining facilities.

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Discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. small businesses, especially restaurants and
tourism attractions, and highlighted their fragile nature in the face of a prolonged crisis. Such
companies typically have low cash flow, and in the face of this pandemic, they will either
have to declare bankruptcy, take out loans, or significantly cut expenses. Their restaurant
owners’ survey found that the expected chance of survival during a crisis lasting one month is
72%, for a crisis that lasts four months is 30%, and for a crisis that lasts six months is 15%.

The result also indicated that more than 70% of U.S. small businesses want to take up the
CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, even though most of them believe it
would be challenging to establish eligibility for receiving such loans. Finally, a survey study
by Nazneen et al investigated the pandemic’s impact on travel behavior and reported that it
had significant impacts on tourists’ decisions to travel for the next 12 months. The authors
also concluded that respondents are concerned about hotels’ safety and hygiene, recreational
sites, and public transports. It has also been postulated that hygiene and safety perception will
play a significant role in travel decisions in post-COVID-19 time.

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 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERVIEW

SURVEY

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20. Do You Have Any Other Comments,Questions, Or Concerns?

1. No

2. Nice survey, very helpful 👍

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 RESULTS

All included articles were categorized and stored in the main database according to year,
source of publication, the industry segment, geographic location, research approach, aspect of
the hospitality industry, and methodology. The characteristics of the included papers are
shown in Table 2.

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 CONCLUSION

This paper provides a systematic review of the published research topics relevant to the
understanding of the hospitality industry in the time of COVID-19 pandemic. By selecting
keywords and following PRISMA guidelines, we explored two main research questions
related to the objective. A total of 50 papers that met the predefined inclusion criteria were
included in the review. The following two research questions have been explored: RQ1. What
aspects of the hospitality industry at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic have been studied?
RQ2. What research methodologies have been used to investigate the impact of COVID-19
on the hospitality industry? The included papers were classified into six thematic groups,
including: (1) developing simulation and scenario modeling, (2) conducting surveys, (3)
reporting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, (4) comparing the COVID-19 pandemic with
the previous public health crises, (5) measuring impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (6)
proposing different remedial and management actions (discussing resumption of activities).
These papers focused on different aspects of the hospitality industry, including the recovery
of the industry after the pandemic, market demands, revenue losses, the COVID-19 spreading
patterns in the industry, job losses, safety and health, employment issues of hospitality
workers, travel behavior, preference of customers and social costs. The reviewed papers used
a variety of research methodologies, such as the SEIR model, epidemiological model, agent-
based model, supply and demand curve, DSGE model, crowd flow simulation model,
secondary data analysis, seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average model, scenario
analysis, trend analysis, descriptive analysis, contingent valuation model, content analysis,
and analyzing questionnaire data. In general, conducting a systematic literature review has
several limitations. The first limitation is identifying and analyzing papers published in a
specific time frame. The second limitation is the inability to discover individual relevant
papers arising from a limited number of keywords. The third limitation is using a limited
number of search databases for article discovery. Although we defined several search
keywords and followed PRISMA guidelines, it is possible that some papers that met the
inclusion criteria were not considered in our review. We did not include the papers published
after August 2020 as several papers on the topic have just started to emerge. Second, we
selected papers only from Web of Science, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases.

Third, we could not include articles where authors investigated the hospitality industry at the
time of the COVID-19 pandemic without mentioning the hospitality industry, tourism
industry, event industry, hotel industry, and restaurant industry. Fourth, one of the main

55
challenges of this review was defining inclusion criteria. Because of the very timely issue of
the COVID-19 pandemic, we defined broad inclusion criteria. Therefore, we could not
include several studies that met inclusion criteria but generated by institutions outside of the
traditional academic publishing and distribution channels. Despite the above limitations, we
identified the hospitality industry’s main aspects in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These include the recovery of the hospitality industry (discussed by 19% of included papers),
market demand (18% of papers), revenue losses (16% of papers), the COVID-19 spreading
patterns in the industry (14% of papers), job losses (10% of included papers), safety and
health aspects (8% of papers), issues related to the employment of hospitality workforce (7%
of papers), travel behaviors (4% of papers), preferences of customers (2% of papers), and
social costs of pandemic discussed by 2% of included papers. It should be noted that there are
numerous other fertile research areas and methodologies that can be applied by
multidisciplinary research teams to study the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the
hospitality industry. Such approaches and methods include (1) using complex system science
frameworks such as syndemics, (2) developing simulation modeling in different types of
system dynamics, discrete event simulation, agent-based modeling, and Monte Carlo/risk
analysis simulation, (3) investigating the application of new technologies such as educational
technology, information technology, and robotics in response to the pandemic, (4) using
artificial intelligence in different types of machine learning, deep learning and neural
networks, and (5) developing the best practices concerning the pandemic (see Figure 8).
These research approaches can be used to analyze the main aspects of the hospitality industry
at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as developing sustainable industry, recovery
and resilience of the hospitality industry, the safety of customers, issues of undocumented
workers, market demand, and emerging the new market, hostile behavior toward customers,
and the risks of resumption of activities during the pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public
Health 2020, 17, x 18 of 22 information technology, and robotics in response to the
pandemic, (4) using artificial intelligence in different types of machine learning, deep
learning and neural networks, and (5) developing the best practices concerning the pandemic
(see Figure 8). These research approaches can be used to analyze the main aspects of the
hospitality industry at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as developing sustainable
industry, recovery and resilience of the hospitality industry, the safety of customers, issues of
undocumented workers, market demand, and emerging the new market, hostile behavior
toward customers, and the risks of resumption of activities during the pandemic.

56
 OUTCOME & SCOPE FOR STUDY FURTHER

Hospitality is one of the fastest growing industries in the world today. Hotels, events, travel
and tourism, luxury services, food services and other related segments fall under hospitality
management. Among all these sectors, travel and tourism are the largest contributors to the
world economy.

Let’s cut to the chase and find out what hospitality management is.

WHAT IS HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT?

Hospitality management, as the name suggests, is the study of the hospitality industry. Owing
to its presence in diverse sectors, a degree in hospitality management presents a wide range of
choices for students, in terms of the sector they want to work in. If you are planning to take
up a hospitality course, this article will help you weigh your choices better.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT?

The eligibility criteria for any of the hospitality courses in Ontario is as follows:

 The student should have an Ontario Secondary School Diploma or equivalent;

 The student should be 18 years of age or above;
 The student should have an IELTS score if 5.5 or equivalent for non-native English
speakers.

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COURSES IN HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

Owing to the varied segments of hospitality management, there is a range of hospitality

courses offered by colleges to specialize in. Some of the courses that you can pursue to
become a hospitality management professional are:

 Tourism Management
 Global Tourism Management
 Resort and Hotel Management
 Advanced Studies in International Hotel Management
 International Hotel Management
 Hospitality and Tourism Management Co-op
 Hospitality – Hotel Operations Management
 International Year One – Global Tourism Management
 Hotel and Food Administration
 International Year One – International Hotel Management
 Hospitality and Tourism Management (Honours)

Toronto School of Management (TSoM) offers one of the best set of hospitality management
courses in Canada. Here is a gist of all the hospitality courses offered by TSoM, take a look:

1. Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management Co-op

This is a one-year programme that focuses on the present-day advancements and

developments in the hospitality industry. It covers all areas of hospitality management,
including introduction to Hospitality and Tourism, Front Office Operations, Housekeeping,
Food and Beverage Operations, Food Sanitation, Safety and Health, Hospitality Accounting,
Customer Service, Organizational Behaviour in Hospitality Industry, and Work Placement.

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2. Advanced Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management Co-op

This is a two-year advanced diploma course aimed at preparing you with skills to hold a
managerial position within the hospitality industry. It emphasises on the latest developments
in the industry and equips you with skills to cater to the industry’s needs. Apart from the
subject areas included in the Diploma degree, this course also includes Facilities and
Maintenance Management, Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events, Food and
Beverage Management, Human Resource Management, Marketing in hospitality and
Tourism, Issues in Hospitality and Tourism Industry, Resort Management, and Niche and
Specialty Management.

WHAT ARE THE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN THIS SECTOR

Today, hospitality management jobs are diverse and in high-demand because of the immense
growth that the industry has seen in recent years.

It is vital that you make an informed decision before taking up a specialization course in
hospitality management. To help you make the right choice, here are some of the hospitality
careers that can give your professional life the push it needs:

 LODGING AND ACCOMMODATION

Lodging and accommodation has, by far, been the most popular abode for hospitality
management professionals. It includes everything, starting from luxurious hotels and resorts
to tented camps. In fact, lodging sector is one of the largest employers of hospitality
management professionals. The interesting bit is that within the lodging industry, you can
choose from various routes – guest services, housekeeping, human resource management as
well as sales management.

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  FOOD AND BEVERAGE

Food and beverage makes up for a large segment of the hospitality industry. The jobs in the
food and beverage sector are – kitchen manager, lead chefs, restaurant managers, bar
managers, catering supervisors, etc. In fact, hospitality management professionals working in
the food and beverage sector are one of the highest-paid professionals in the hospitality
industry.

 TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Travel and tourism is considered the most widespread and important sector of the hospitality
industry. It has its presence across the globe and is a popular career option. Travel and
tourism has been witnessing a large scale expansion after international tourism became talk
of the town. In fact, it is a high revenue generator segment and produces a large number of
jobs as well.

 EVENT MANAGEMENT

Event management is emerging as an important sector of the hospitality industry. Events

include weddings, conferences, concerts, fundraisers, theatre productions, etc. The roles
offered in the event management sector are – venue manager, house manager, production
managers and event managers. Of late, the event management sector has become very
popular and is slowly picking pace to become the frontrunner in hospitality industry.

WHAT IS THE SALARY OF A HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL?

The salary of a hospitality management professional depends on the segment of hospitality

industry he/she is working in.

While an event management personnel can expect to earn $50,000 to $100,000 in a year, a
travel and tourism manager can expect to earn about $60,000 to $120,000 per annum. On the
other hand, somebody working in the food and beverage sector can earn a salary of up to
$90,000 a year.

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However, there are some factors that influence the remuneration offered to a hospitality
management professional, like quality of education and prior experience.

HOW MUCH WOULD A HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT COURSE COST?

The cost for pursuing a hospitality management course is about $20,000. However, it largely
depends on the university or college you are doing the course with.

BENEFITS OF STUDYING HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

A subject becomes more alluring once you know the benefits that come along. If you’re still
trying to make up your mind about taking up a hospitality management course, we are here to
help. Take a look at the advantages of hospitality management:

 CREATIVE THINKING

Hospitality management is a job where you will need to interact with customers and you
might encounter unique problems that need immediate solutions. The challenges hospitality
management presents will help you broaden your mind, become quick on your feet (in terms
of thinking) and will push you to think out of the box. With all the exercise your mind will be
doing, creative thinking will eventually become an asset for you.

 GLOBAL EXPOSURE

Hospitality management is one of the few career options that carves your path for global
exposure. Due to its widespread presence, you can find a job in various places and get a
chance to work for an international chain. Global exposure will help you understand different
cultures and customs, adding to your experience as a professional.

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  JOB SECURITY

With the hospitality industry becoming omnipresent, a large number of jobs are generated
every year. Hence, there is increased demand for hospitality management professionals. The
growing popularity of the hospitality industry has made it a promising option.

 GREAT PERKS

While not all jobs in the hospitality sector are well-paid, if you are taking up a managerial
position in the industry, chances are you will figure in the suite of top-paid professionals.

 WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES

Jobs offered by the hospitality industry are never dull. There is a lot of variety, a lot of
travelling and a lot of new challenges. In fact, hospitality management jobs are one of the
most exciting ones in the world.

 SIGNIFICANT GROWTH

As suggested by Harvard Business Review, ‘growth opportunity’ should be one of the key
factors while choosing a career option. Hospitality management jobs will help you grow,
personally and professionally. Hospitality management careers not only help you socialize
and network, they also provide you with dynamic opportunities to grow within the
organization.

 YOUR EMPLOYABILITY IS HIGH

Hospitality courses equip you with skills that help you understand the current trends in the
industry. These courses also help you inculcate people-handling skills and critical thinking as
a part of your daily life. These skills are what the hospitality industry looks for in their
professionals. The more skilled you are, the higher your employability is.

The hospitality industry generates a large amount of revenue and jobs, which has a positive
influence on the global economy as well as the employment rate. Studying hospitality

62
management gives you an edge over other professionals in the world due to its versatility and
wide reach.

Hospitality is one of the best sectors to work in and it pays well too. If you are planning on
taking up a hospitality management course, go right ahead and do it. After all, best things
happen to those who dream.

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 LIMITATIONS

This study is subject to certain limitations that must be addressed. Some of them are
highlighted here and future directions of research have been indicated. First and foremost the
research is based on the qualitative analysis that although uses interview responses from
managers or senior personnel, may not justifiably work toward generalisation of the results.
Thus with the problem at hand robust empirical investigations are deemed necessary in
immediate course to study the pandemic’s industry impacts and make model based
estimations and recommendations. However, this research makes a sturdier point in giving an
exploratory stance to trigger other empirical investigations. The researches from here can
take various variables exhibited as sub-themes and major broad themes that accumulated
through perspectives obtained from the industry experts and may operationalise them in
future investigations. Quantitative investigations or even triangulation studies can bring
deeper insights and help enrich literature. Although studies on SARS and other outbreaks
have happened in past, the extent and enormity of the current pandemic is comparable to even
greater health catastrophes of past. Thus scales development to study the outbreak impacts,
industry response and change in travel and consumer behaviour are strongly recommended.

Another important limitation that should be addresses is that the perspectives reported in the
study are from India. Several other themes may surface and some factors manifested from
current research may not apply in other scenarios, which remains a strand that could be
picked in future researches. Random samples from diverse geographical and cultural setups
may contribute toward newer findings. It is also important to note that situation is still
evolving and the matters that were prominent a few weeks or months ago may not be as
influential now, for instance the rise and decline in the number of cases and its varied
manifestation in various geographical settings. This increases the relevance of studies that
factor in the temporal change in the circumstances. Going forward, there certainly would be
need of more dedicated issues dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak for ensuring literature
captures its evolution and recommends practices to mitigate the impacts. One more limitation
in the study is that it mostly takes into cognizance individuals working in higher positions in
hotels with few senior individuals from academics. The study didn’t consider other
stakeholders viewpoints. This leaves a glaring gap for future researches to consider other
players in the leisure industry like travel intermediaries, airlines, restaurants at destinations,
locals at destinations, other accommodation providers, travel and hospitality students and
even different levels of employees’ etc.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.tourismtransformed.com
www.who.int
www.sciencedirect.com


 www.mdpi.com


 www.tandfonline.com


 www.emerald.com

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