The Sustainability of Using Domestic Tourism as a Post-COVID-19 Recovery Strategy in a Distressed Destination

Abstract

Tourism is a critical contributor to the gross domestic product, especially among developing countries like Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a tourist destination that relies more on international travellers, a market which has been affected by the novel coronavirus. The purpose of this study is to establish the perceptions of domestic travellers and tourism managers on the sustainability of using domestic tourism as strategic responses to the impacts of the coronavirus. This study employs a qualitative methodology to examine the perceptions of the demand and supply side regarding the recovery options for Zimbabwean tourism post-pandemic. Online interviews with demand and supply participants were conducted. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, and the results were discussed. Results show that domestic tourism as a recovery option is unstainable due to the challenges that Zimbabwe is facing, beyond the coronavirus.

To travel, or not to travel? The impacts of travel constraints and perceived travel risk on travel intention among Malaysian tourists amid the COVID‐19

“…People's travel preferences may have been heavily influenced by the global pandemic, more and more tourists may prefer short‐distance trips over long‐haul travels (Wen et al, 2020 ). Domestic tourism plays an indispensable role in reviving tourism (Woyo, 2021 ).…”

African Tourism in Uncertain Times: Covid-19 Research Progress

“…Issues surrounding government policy response, or the lack thereof, to the pandemic also have been explored in the African environment (Mensah and Boakye, 2021;Nyawo, 2020;Rogerson and Rogerson, 2020a). With limited financial resources to support businesses directly, for tourism recovery the logical and most widespread government response is promoting domestic tourism (Rogerson and Baum, 2020;Woyo, 2021). Arguably, the pandemic has fostered a heightened level of awareness of how important tourism experiences and consumption are for people and local communities (Saarinen and Wall-Reinius, 2021).…”

“…The implications of the pandemic for specific sectors of the African tourism product mix further have been under scrutiny (Swart and Maralack, 2020;Adinolfi et al, 2021;Bama and Nyakana, 2021;Dube-Xaba, 2021;Mohamed, 2021;Sucheran, 2021;Woyo and Nyamandi, 2021). The implications of COVID-19 for 'distressed destinations' have been probed in the setting of Zimbabwe (Woyo, 2021). One distinctive African contribution for international scholarship is exploration of the impacts of COVID-19 for the economy of international informal sector business tourism (Makoni and Tichaawa, 2021).…”

Competitive intelligence approach for developing an e-tourism strategy post COVID-19

“…On the other hand, in a COVID-19 pandemic situation, many countries close their borders to foreign arrivals it will cause the flow of tourists from abroad to stop. Then, the way to adjust the tourism industry is to take advantage of domestic tourism (local tourists) (Woyo, 2021). An adequate strategy is needed to bring in domestic tourists.…”