Introduction: The Impact of (COVID)-19 on Cultural Tourism

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic (SARS-CoV-2) has been disastrous for cultural tourism worldwide as many cultural tourist venues are concentrated in cities and have had to close along with tourism-related facilities such as hospitality businesses and hotels. There has been a widespread fear of travel and social contact. The comparative research drawn upon in this paper suggests that new trends might be emerging with rural and natural attractions becoming more prominent and a rise in domestic tourism due to the problems of foreign travel. This is associated with increased use of individualised travel and self-catering facilities. There has been a resultant rediscovery of more local scenery and attractions. The greater use of information technology can enhance tourism under these conditions and this is likely a permanent shift. Our research shows how these shifts emerged over the course of different lockdowns. Comparative research suggests that new trends and directions might emerge instead of a post-pandemic reset to what existed before.

Sustainable Cultural Tourism: Proposal for a Comparative Indicator-Based Framework in European Destinations

“…One of the key contributions of this research is related to the resilience domain and the development of related indicators. The pandemic situation is one of the most notorious examples [16,55,56] and, more recently, meteorological disasters such as fires and floods need to be included too; finally, the Russian war against Ukraine is another example, impacting the global trade of goods and services. Worthy of note is that the responsiveness capacity of the destinations to any external hazards or crises that may affect the existing tourism tendencies in the future should be properly addressed for achieving sustainable development of destinations.…”

A Current View of the Causes of the Increase in Turnover in the Field of Tourism

“…The hospitality sector, including restaurants and hotels, was forced to close and industry businesses began to lay off staff. (Wallace et al, 2023). To mitigate the effects of restrictive measures in the covid period, as well as the effects of the current energy crisis, there were provided some measures adopted within the SR legislation.…”