Answer To: Research proposal on a relevant contemporary issue in hospitality HM 205: Research Methods Dear...
Anurima answered on Mar 26 2022
COVID-19 impact on consumer behaviour in tourism
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COVID-19 impact on consumer behaviour in tourism
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Topic: COVID-19 impact on consumer behaviour in tourism
Introduction
The hospitality industry is one of the most developing industries in the world. It contributes in trillions in foreign currency transaction (Davahli et al. 2020). Many places in the world are completely dependent upon the outcomes of this industry for their livelihood and survival. The global pandemic of Coronavirus affected all industries while the hospitality industry was affected the most (Ntounis et al. 2021). Due to international travel ban and social distancing measures, people stopped travelling and taking services of the industry. Airlines, hotels, restaurants and popular tourist destinations were deserted during that time. With the end of the pandemic, there has been certain shifts in the industry (Alonso et al. 2020). This paper proposes to understand these changes and how they are likely to impact the hospitality industry in Australia.
Body
Context of the issue
The travel and hospitality industry contributes significantly in job creation, socioeconomic and cultural development internationally. The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented crisis in social, economic and global health aspects. Travel, tourism and hospitality are the disciplines that have been most affected due to this pandemic (Canhoto and Wei 2021). Due to social distancing measures and travel restrictions in different countries along with ban on international travelling for almost two years, the hospitality sector has taken serious economic hit. There are many destinations that are dependent solely on hospitality sector for their livelihood. Many people have lost their jobs and businesses due to lack of traveling. At the end of the pandemic crisis, tourism and hospitality has become the most damaged global industries. There has been steep decline in revenue amounting to 2.86 trillion USD, around 50% of revenue loss internationally (Crespí-Cladera, Martín-Oliver and Pascual-Fuster 2021). Australia is a country where hospitality is a highly developed sector and requires change in perspectives to recover post-COVID.
Australia saw its peak in hospitality industry in the year 2019, before the pandemic hit the industry. More than 924 thousand people were employed in the sector which declined to 651 thousand. Not only the hotels, but restaurants, events, cafes, and takeaway joints too were affected during the two-year period (Rahimizhian and Irani 2020). However, since 2021, employment has increased in the industry as people have started to travel for domestic and international destinations. Australia being a country of diverse beauty and tourism experience has to prepare for onboarding the tourists and cater to their needs and demands.
Rationale
In the post- COVID era, the consumer behaviour in hospitality has changed significantly. The global pandemic has changed consumer preferences about destination, travel type and choice of stay and entertainment (Dube, Nhamo and Chikodzi 2021). Earlier, people considered hotels and cities as the prime factors for hotels while post-pandemic, people are preferring Airbnb and other personalised options more. There has also been a shift in trust for the consumers in hospitality industry. Consumer behaviour is the most essential aspect in any industry and the change in consumer behaviour for hospitality creates a challenge for the already dwindling industry. The hospitality sector needs to modify their offers and marketing strategies in order to attract more guests and improve their situation in the post-COVID world (Sanabria-Díaz, Aguiar-Quintana and Araujo-Cabrera 2021). Additionally, understanding the consumer behaviour in the hospitality sector will also open new ways...