COVID-19 Tourism and Travel Business in Pandemic

The Covid-19 epidemic is impacting the global tourist business. Tourists’ views of travelling risks and manageability are critical factors in their choice of trip locations during the continued unpredictability of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tourists’ views of travelling safety and control might impact their cognitive behaviors when traveling to places. Because of the development of the current pandemic, tourists may have a new perspective on travel risk and management challenges. Travellers could resist visiting locations if they believe they are unsafe. Tourists’ journey risks and control are linked to multifaceted tourism sites and have unclear results due to the influence of Covid-19. As a result, it is challenging to understand key risk and control aspects for establishing a conceptual basis centered on visitors’ risk and management perspectives and combining their findings. Nevertheless, because travel risk was a critical topic throughout the Covid-19 epidemic, the research focused on exploring and evaluating visitors’ travel risks and control perspectives connected with places of interest.

The Covid-19 outbreak demolished all earlier developmental narratives. Nations have enacted lockdowns of the greatest magnitude in the history of humankind throughout the globe to halt the transmission of the virus. This scenario is not unique when it comes to Canada and the tourism industry and specifically the Toronto airport Marriott hotel. The motel is a tourist magnet and one of the businesses that the epidemic has impacted. The ramifications of the pandemic potentially altered numerous aspects of human life and industry, especially tourist management, since nearly 50% of the world population imposed extraordinary limits on transportation. Tourism has remained one of the most rapidly and severely affected areas of the economy.

COVID-19 Tourism and Travel Business in Pandemic

               The COVID-19 virus broke out in 2019 and has significantly impacted countries worldwide. Three years have passed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, but the virus has continued to mutate and has not been completely eradicated. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused irreparable damage to every country globally, especially to the country’s economic development, which is undoubtedly a fatal blow. On the other hand, the movement of the world population has almost stopped due to the prevention of the spread of the COVID-19 virus by the whole of humanity. This had a fatal impact on every country’s tourism and travel business, as many popular tourist attractions were closed to stop the spread of the virus. For example, Toronto, Ontario, Canada closed some major tourist attractions like Wonderland to prevent the outbreak’s spread. Tourists from all over the world were also unable to travel to Toronto on international flights, which caused Toronto tourism to suffer. Without many customers spending money in Toronto, the market is sluggish, and businesses do not have any income. This article aims to analyze and address the external issues brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the tourism business and the strategic direction of marketing. Finally, based on the analysis results, specific strategies will be designed for the organization to help the Toronto tourism industry regain its vitality.

               Countries worldwide have been affected by the epidemic, and their economic development has taken an unprecedented hit. Due to the epidemic, one of the most affected industries is the tourism and hospitality industry. Countries worldwide have cut off transportation hubs between countries, such as international flights or international cruise ships, to minimize the spread of the epidemic. As an example, the tourism industry in the Greater Toronto Area has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Toronto’s largest international airport, Pearson, suffered a significant reduction in international flights due to the government’s efforts to limit the number of international tourists entering the country and thus limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The massive reduction in international visitors has directly resulted in no revenue for Toronto’s tourism industry, which is the largest source of income for the city. The way the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is rapidly expanding all over the world, it may turn out that international as well as domestic tourism will be severely affected for at least 3–5 years（Sagar, 2020). Recently, nations have been struggling to mitigate the impact of the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak on their economy. Many countries have imposed travel restrictions to reduce people’s movement to avoid infection transmission. However, travelling restrictions have jeopardized the tourism industry around the globe. If the situation persists, it will become challenging for the nations to open tourism (Akhtar, 2021).

Critical Analysis

               The COVID-19 virus has persisted and has not been completely eradicated, and Toronto’s tourism industry faces excellent risks and challenges. In terms of marketing, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Toronto’s tourism market has been enormous. Many of the major tourist attractions were forced to close to restrict the movement of large numbers of people. The most significant impact of this initiative was the lack of any revenue stream for the major tourist attractions and the enormous cost of paying staff and maintaining the attractions’ facilities. The tourism markets of countries worldwide are the same as Toronto’s. Few sectors have fallen as far and fast as tourism due to the sector’s reliance on travel (international and domestic) to generate economic activity with social impact. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (2020) estimates that international tourist arrivals could decline by 20%–30%, translating into an estimated loss in international tourist receipts of US$300 to US$450 billion（Weng Marc,2021). The rapid transmission of the virus and the high number of asymptomatic people induced governments to shut down the activity in many sectors and impose travel and mobility restrictions (Zimmermann et al., 2020). Many countries completely closed their borders to all foreign nationals (e.g. Russia and the U.S.). In contrast, some others closed only partially, conditioning the entrance in their territory on traveller’s citizenship or point of origin (e.g. Greece and Austria). Therefore, tourism has been one of the most affected sectors (Martina & Pietro, 2021). In terms of marketing, tourism promotion has been curtailed due to the efforts of various national governments to limit the COVID-19 pandemic. The government is discouraging nationals from travelling internationally. The national tourism office will not make marketing and promotional moves during this particular time. The local city of Toronto will have to take some restrictions on the tourism industry to protect the population’s safety.

               The hospitality sector, particularly hotel tourism, has grown dramatically, but lately, hotel management practices have remained primarily constant. COVID-19’s continued expansion has wreaked havoc on the global economy, notably in the hospitality and tourist industries (Gursoy, 2020). Global macroeconomic indexes have fallen as a result of the incidents. There have been a lot of lockdowns. Consumption was lowered as a consequence, and it hampered production. Global stock market indexes have fallen due to the disclosures  (Gursoy, 2020). Several lockdowns have taken place. Demand plummeted as a consequence, and it disrupted production.

               Tourism management’s flexibility to evolve in every nation is being tested due to this pandemic. The rigorous adherence to health and sanitary procedures is enforced. It is recommended that you use a face mask, protective gear, and alcohol and soap to destroy harmful bacteria. It banned foreign trips, and only brief excursions were permitted. Only businesses with sufficient safety and health criteria were permitted to travel outside of the country  (Gursoy, 2020. An airport only allows a small number of people inside. To ensure everyone’s protection, tourists are advised to remain inside for a few days or are isolated. Lockdown, lost reservations, a travel restriction, social alienation, and job loss are all effects of the epidemic on the hotel business. During and after the incidence of COVID-19, hotel management must put in place appropriate preparations. First and foremost, they must constantly keep their staff and customers protected. They will feel more at peace if the site is continuously sanitized.

Some hotels encourage innovation by offering their visitors round-the-clock medical care. There are several ways to deal with a hotel’s adjustability, service, and protection. First, they’re keeping a close watch on the big hotels’ public relations strategies regarding COVID-19’s new norm. It may utilize the widespread usage of technology to sell hotels, restricting COVID-19’s spread. Several hotels, large and small, may lose money right now, but adjusting to the new standard and continuously delivering suggestions may turn this suffering into opportunities. Tourism and hotel management are important industries for the growth of the economy. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in late 2018, these industries were severely damaged. Because the effects on both sectors are so severe, state officials have implemented precautions to avert additional harm.

  Literature Review

               During the COVID-19 era, many hotels and tourist businesses have seen a drop in production and cohesion (Milovanović,2021).COVID-19 has resulted in the closure of several hotels and hospitality firms both locally and internationally and critical the suspension of flights, resulting in no visitors entering the country and no foreign visitors from other nations from another country. Since companies have been severely impacted by the corona, retaining employees has become challenging. Therefore, almost all hotels think that physical environment and cleanliness are top priorities for all customers (Hazari, 2021). Hotels are starting to disinfection of equipment, including frequently touched surfaces such as door handles, light switches and stair railings. You might also consider installing acrylic shields at reception and providing your staff with personal protective equipment (PPE) kits. The safety of customers and employees is the most important thing. Hotels Management cannot pay their workers. Thus they are terminated from their jobs. Management is finding it increasingly difficult to attract talented professional employees during the coronavirus epidemic, when most employees’ salary has been slashed in half, leaving even the most brilliant individuals unable to get their total compensation, preventing managers from creating new job opportunities (Milovanović,2021). Workers’ mental and physical well-being. Since most employees anticipate the spread of coronavirus, HRM is unable to sustain the healthy inner well-being of workers, and also the few employees remaining in hotels and tour firms, HRM is unable to handle their sentiments, needs, and attitudes (Khan, 2021). Because of the coronavirus, which has affected the globe and the general economy, human resource departments cannot compensate or incentivize their employees. Based on the research, in Canada, the Canadian government has launched some benefits to help the hospitality and tourism industry face this situation, such as Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, Canada United Small Business Relief Fund, etc. In addition, another good way to keep the business operating is to create relationships with other markets. For example, hotels can help people who fly from other places as a quarantine or isolated area so that the hotel industry can still benefit from it.

               The consequences of Covid-19 and the pandemic’s effects were genuinely catastrophic for the tourist and related industries, as they severely hampered their movement and slowed them (Milovanović,2021). Depending on what has been said so far, it is apparent that the hospitality industry’s revenue and development have suffered significantly in the last two years as part of the epidemic. Eventually, this will impact the economies of various countries, particularly those that depend primarily on tourism as a significant source of income. However, it should serve as a reminder to interested parties to make adjustments to the present predicament by putting forth the required efforts in developing impactful strategies to aid in the turnaround of tourism companies and tackle the concerns of travel bans in this global epidemic, rebuilding hotel attractions to its pre-pandemic condition as well as further getting better and making preparations it for similar unplanned change shortly. As a result, it’s critical to investigate the prospective effects of using technology-based solutions to decrease future service interruptions and avoid potential service closures that might destabilize hotel operations. Furthermore, because the tourist industry is the most susceptible witness of epidemics, it is critical to resolving this problem before it occurs by directing practitioners and researchers and instructing them on the proper techniques for evaluating various things that happen, allowing them to form ideas and draw conclusions based on these evaluations. To summarize, the significant changes that Covid-19 has placed on hotel tourism and management strategies need additional research.

               The Covid-19 has indeed brought a significant threat. COVID-19, a variant of a novel coronavirus, spread worldwide in eight to nine months. Almost all business sector of the world is affected by this global pandemic (Islam, 2020). Toronto’s tourism and tourism businesses have been more than three years. The Covid-19 has caused a disastrous blow to Toronto’s tourism and tourism industries in recent years. Toronto has overcome three waves of covid-19 difficulties. Coupled with the blockade and restrictions in many regions, it has seriously threatened the development and success of Toronto’s tourism industry. Many tourist attractions and shopping centers are subject to government restrictions, small businesses and scenic spots are also threatened—for example, Canada’s wonderland and shopping center in Toronto. Before the epidemic, tourists from all over the world came to the amusement park to play and greatly improved the tourism economy of Toronto. However, due to the limitations of the Covid-19, many tourists and customers can’t fly to Toronto to play and shop, which has seriously affected the tourism economy of Toronto. The tourism operation depends on the consumption and number of tourists. During the covid-19 period, without consumption and tourists, there will be no economic source directly. In the tourism industry, this forces many tourism enterprises to face bankruptcy. Another example is the Toronto zoo. The zoo needs many keepers and employees to feed animals, requiring more human and material resources. However, due to the outbreak of the covid-19, many breeders can not work, and zoos can not be typically opened and closed. In terms of feed, Toronto is in short supply, and many animals face death because they do not receive regular feeding and care from breeders. Without tourists and animals in the zoo, the zoo faces threats and bankruptcy faster. Moreover, the zoo needs a high amount of economy to maintain the zoo’s operation. Therefore, the covid-19 does pose a significant threat to the zoo. At the same time, the occurrence of the covid-19 also poses a substantial threat to hotels and shopping malls because there is no consumption and occupancy of tourists.    

        Conclusion

               However, there are two sides to everything. First, people should be optimistic about the occurrence of the epidemic. As the pillar of the national economy, tourism and businesses tourism will not be changed. The growing demand for mass tourism has not changed. On the other hand, the covid-19 has brought challenges and threats to the tourism industry. The novel corona-virus pneumonia epidemic situation highlights the importance and necessity of the Internet and big data technology to manage scenic spots and tourism. Online booking of scenic spots may be implemented from only a few scenic spots in the past and gradually transition to normalization online ticket sales and booking in most scenic areas. Brushing ID cards and scanning QR codes into scenic spots will also become an important way for scenic spots, which use scientific and technological means to improve the efficiency of tourists entering the park, reduce risks and reduce the labor cost of scenic spots.

The critical point is that when the vast offline traffic of the scenic area is diverted to the online, the intelligent platform of the scenic spot can also re-guide and transform the consumption of tourists. For example, after obtaining the previous consumption preferences of these tourists, the platform can use or combine big data to personally recommend the reservations of hotels, catering, transportation and other aspects around the scenic spot, and promote the online sales of surrounding goods (such as specialties from Toronto). In this way, the scenic area and platform can obtain more commissions and get massive cash flow at the payment end. Only by firmly promoting the reform of the scenic spot in the future can people grasp the opportunity within the ability to survive better. Nowadays, society is in the era of e-commerce. The key to whether Toronto’s tourism and scenic spots can breakthrough is whether they can grasp the outlet of the times. Intelligent scenic spots and smart tourism will become a noticeable trend in the future. In addition, the covid-19 has brought specific opportunities and business opportunities to tourism.