Tourism crisis management: evidence from COVID-19

The tourism industry is an environmentally sensitive one. The recent outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) severely hit the global tourism industry. Nonetheless, future tourism development directions affected by the recent COVID-19 and feasible solutions for the recovery of the tourism industry in the existing literature were limited. Hence, this study predicts a future tourism development with detailed directions affected by the COVID-19 outbreak using Mainland China (hereafter known as China) as an example to address the aforementioned gaps. In total, 91 in-depth interviews were conducted among hospitality and tourism practitioners and experts. Overall, hospitality and tourism practitioners and experts hold a positive attitude toward the recovery of the tourism industry, whereas tourism practitioners perceive the long-term impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry. The findings contribute to the detailed predictions of the future tourism development for the hotel industry, travel agency, and tourist attractions.