An exploration of the Impact of Social Distancing on the Future of Tourism Management

Abstract

Tourism remains one of the most affected industries by the adoption of social distancing, as a COVID-19 spread prevention measure. The current study’s main aim is to determine the impact of social distancing on the future of the tourism industry. The specific objectives include; identifying the challenges faced by the tourism sector due to social distancing measures; to explore how automation and technology can help the tourism industry regain customer confidence; to understand how the tourism industry can position itself for future challenges to be more sustainable amid social distancing, and mobility restriction, and lastly to make recommendations to the tourism sector practitioners/stakeholders on the future of the tourism industry post-pandemic. The study adopts interpretivism research philosophy and is guided by tourism consumer behaviour theory. The study’s target population is that of professionals that started working in the tourism industry before the introduction of social distancing protocols and after its rollout. The participants are sampled using purposive sampling. The study has three (3) participants. The participants are engaged in phenomenological interviews and content analysis is adopted to interpret the results. The results of the study indicate that the challenges faced by the industry due to social distancing measures include lower booking capacity, layoffs, unpredictable working schedules, poor communication among employees and tourists, and isolation. In terms of the likely automation and technology solutions, the study results indicate that technology, virtual tourism, automation, and working remotely are the most effective. To position the industry for the future, approaches such as reducing the manpower in the industry, sanitation, and automation are considered. As such, the study recommends that these strategies are adopted in the industry