The structural changes of a local tourism network: comparison of before and after COVID-19

Chang-Young Jeon and Hee-Won Yang

Current Issues in Tourism, 2021, vol. 24, issue 23, 3324-3338

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused dramatic changes on a global scale. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (2020), the restricted movement that has arisen from the pandemic is expected to reduce the national tourist market to 180 million visitors, a 44% decrease from 2019. Subsequently, alternative tourist activities have been promoted to satisfy the suppressed demand. This study examined the structural changes of a local tourism network focusing on Gangwon Province, in the Republic of Korea, which has experienced a rise in tourist demand following the COVID-19 outbreak. This study composed a matrix using the movement patterns of tourists who visited Gangwon Province during corresponding periods before and after the outbreak and then conducted a network analysis. The results demonstrated that as tourists travelled, they focused their movements on local areas and simplified travel routes. Moreover, our findings revealed that the demand for tourism was concentrated on beaches, which previously tended towards a low tourism density. As COVID-19 is expected to become a pervasive reality for the foreseeable future, this empirical study on the corresponding changes in tourist behaviour has implications regarding the tourism industry’s direction.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13683500.2021.1874890 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rcitxx:v:24:y:2021:i:23:p:3324-3338

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rcit20

DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2021.1874890

Access Statistics for this article

Current Issues in Tourism is currently edited by Jennifer Tunstall

More articles in Current Issues in Tourism from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().