Covid-19 footprint to tourism and small tourism businesses in the first period of pandemic
Saša Zupan Korže
Vanadis, Slovenia
sasa.zupan@vanadis.si
Mateja Škabar
National Review Commission, Slovenia
mateja.skabar@gmail.com
Abstract
Temporary suspension of travel and hospitality due to Covid-19 pandemic affected tourism sector particularly hard. One of the most affected areas were small tourism businesses, which provide essential part of the tourism services. The main purpose of this paper is to synthesise the major themes related to tourism and small businesses in this sector in the first few months of Covid-19 pandemic. Data were collected in integrative review of secondary sources published in 2020. Eleven key topics have been distilled from the content analysis: freedom of mobility, people’s health, economic downturn, small tourism businesses in stress, recommendations for thier survival predictions for tourism recovery, economic measures of EU and the Member States to support tourism revival and rethinking the tourism. The results provide a condensed review of the events and actions of relevant institutions triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and their consequences to tourism and tourism service providers.
Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic; tourism; small businesses in tourism; SMEs; SMTEs