An Appraisal of the Potential Impacts of Covid-19 on Tourism in Nigeria

Abstract

The outbreak and spread of covid-19 disease has resulted in countries of the world placing travel restrictions and closure of their borders to movements to and from other countries. The tourism industry is one of the sectors that would be greatly affected. Data for the study was generated from desk review of secondary materials, online blogs and interview through social media chat. Findings of the study reveal that the outbreak and spread of covid-19 disease led to rapid shutdowns in cities and states across the country, which greatly affected the tourism industry. Industries in the tourism sector such as airlines, hotels, entertainment and hospitality industries are facing declining demand and patronage with travel crashes and cancellations expected to continue. The increased cancellations of hotels and travel bookings resulted in billions of dollars in revenue loss and hundreds of thousands of job loss in the country. The findings of the study reveal that covid-19 is already worsening the unemployment situations in the country, resulting in loss of substantial revenue to the government, increasing incidence of poverty among others. Based on the findings, the study recommends the need for diversification priorities to alternative sectors such as tourism and agriculture and compensation to business operators in the tourism and other critical sector.

COVID-19 shock in the hospitality industry: its effect on hotel operations within the Bono region of Ghana

“…As the budgets and guest houses have fewer employees, these facilities are able to manage the few employees during the pandemic by retaining their staff as compared to that of the bigger hotels. This present study confirmed that Oruonye and Ahmed (2020) in Nigeria highlighted that many hotels have already closed down because of low patronage and inability to meet up with the payment of worker’s salary and electricity and water bills. Many had to cut down on their workforce, while others slash their workers’ salaries by 50%.…”

“…COVID-19, with its dramatic drop in sales and income, will make it extremely difficult for many hospitality firms to continue paying their employees, resulting in job loss. A study in Nigeria by Oruonye and Ahmed (2020) reveals that several hotels are closed because of reduced demand and inability to pay employee salaries.…”

The Socio-economic Implications of COVID-19: A Mini Systematic Review

“…Regarding the demographic factors, Acemoglu et al ( 2020) considers structural differences in infections for distinct age groups that affect lockdown policies and economic costs (Çakmaklı et al, 2020). In general, the various economic areas affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 includes; Global disaster (Gupta, 2020), tourism industry (Oruonye & Ahmed, 2020), supply chain disruptions (Oruonye & Ahmed, 2020; Tang, Gaoshan, & Ahonsi, 2020) food insecurity (Cosgrove, 2020), shortage of raw materials (Tang et al, 2020), drop in productivity and efficiency (Raja, Lennes, & Biddinger, 2020). These economic difficulties lead to loss of employment which further affects food security.…”

Novel Corona Virus Covid-19: Impact on Economic Development and Mitigating Solution for Developing Countries

“…It is projected that the spread of the disease will have serious humanitarian challenges to the countries of the world and especially Africa and Nigeria in particular. Economically, the effects have already been felt as demand for Africa's raw materials and commodities in global market has declined and Africa's access to industrial components and manufactured goods from other regions of the world has been hampered [22].…”

“…There are several channels through which the COVID-19 outbreak will affect economic activity in developing countries, the rest of developing Asia, and the world. These include a sharp but temporary decline in domestic consumption and other outbreak-affected economies, and possibly investment if the outbreak affects views on future business activity; declines in tourism [22] and business travel; spillovers of weaker demand to other sectors and economies through trade and production linkages; supply-side disruptions to production and trade (which are distinct from demand-side shocks spilling over through trade and production linkages); and effects on health such as increased disease and mortality as well as shifts in health care spending. As each of these are taken in turn [2].…”