Urban tourism performance index over the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to propose and estimate the urban tourism performance index (UTPI), an index that can measure and track the month-by-month tourism performance on main tourism cities since the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UTPI is estimated for the following urban destinations: Bangkok, Paris, London, Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, New York, Istanbul, Tokyo, Seoul, Osaka, Phuket, Milan, Barcelona, Bali and Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach Monthly based data measuring the tourism industry’s performance for these urban destinations has been collected. This data includes airlines’ and hotels’ performance, as well as potential tourists’ online searches. The obtained data has been combined using a principal component analysis, generating the UTPI. Findings The UTPI shows that all urban areas analyzed in this study experienced a devastating negative impact because of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. However, the tourism recovery evolution follows heterogeneous patterns. Research limitations/implications The proposed index can be estimated using additional variables. Moreover, the index is only estimated for 16 tourism cities. Future studies can reproduce the methodology by incorporating further variables and amplifying the geographical coverage. Practical implications The UTPI might be useful for researchers and policymakers interested in using a measure of tourism performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in some of the most important urban destinations. Likewise, the UTPI index may serve as a suitable aggregated measure of tourism performance in a post-COVID-19 era or to monitor tourism during future crises. Originality/value This study analyzes the tourism performance during the COVID-19 pandemic from an urban perspective.

High regional economic activity repels domestic tourism during summer of pandemic

“…Despite this, observed travel patterns do not coincide with those of the past and there is a clear difference between densely and sparsely populated areas (OECD, 2020). Cities that normally attract many international, business and event visitors are particularly negatively affected (Anguera-Torrell et al, 2021;Li et al, 2021). The need for social distancing, contact minimization and the lack of major events in urban areas may steer tourism flows in the direction of more deserted regions.…”

What do urban and rural hotel managers say about the future of hotels after COVID-19? The new meaning of safety experiences

“…Several variables could be considered as excellent candidates to estimate tourism's performance in cities. In this regard it should be proposed key performance indicators the hotel industry to control the spread of the virus through tourism such as; the number of international tourists, the number of visitors to museums, the number of flights or the quantity of tourism-related Google searches for each urban destination represent some clear examples ( Anguera-Torrell et al, 2021 ). That is the example of the city of Barcelona.…”

A “new tourism cycle” on the Canary Islands: scenarios for digital transformation and resilience of small and medium tourism enterprises

“…The sudden standstill of economy activity as an indirect Covid impact was far more devastating than expected (Fernandes, 2020;Jonung and Roeger, 2006;Navarro Jurado et al, 2020;Smit et al, 2020). Destinations that were less hard hit by pandemic waves or that took apparently effective measures suffered less steep declines than those that were highly dependent on tourism arrivals (Anguera-Torrell et al, 2021). In the case of the the Canary Islands, tourism monoculture aggravated the crisis, along with the dependence of international markets and of air travel, with the crisis impact only mitigated by the islands' low seasonality (Duro, 2016;Duro et al, 2021).…”