Impact, Recovery and Resilience of the Events and Festivals Sector from COVID-19 Crisis: Lessons from Zimbabwe

Tendai Chibaya and Zibanai Zhou
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Tendai Chibaya: Great Zimbabwe University, School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culture
Zibanai Zhou: Midlands State University, Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Sciences

Chapter Chapter 7 in COVID-19, Tourist Destinations and Prospects for Recovery, 2023, pp 119-139 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic spawned several challenges for the events and festivals sector in Zimbabwe. However, scant scholarly attention has been paid to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced impacts on events and festivals with specific reference to Zimbabwe. This chapter examines the impacts of COVID-19 on Zimbabwe’s events and festivals sector and unpacks the recovery and resilient strategies deployed. A qualitative approach was adopted where 16 semi-structured in-depth telephone interviews were employed to collect data from events and festivals stakeholders selected through snowballing sampling. Data were analysed, and findings were presented under four themes: types of festivals and special events impacted, socioeconomic impacts, recovery and resilience strategies and festivals’ consumer mindset shift. Findings revealed that the events sector suffered the worst brunt of COVID-19 through blanket bans of gatherings that restricted mobility between 2020 and 2021. Additionally, COVID-19 induced multiple socioeconomic impacts, notably loss of income and sources of livelihood in the events value chain encompassing exhibitions, shopping, transportation, décor, artefacts, security services, food and beverages. The recovery and resilience enhancement strategies were implemented by using contactless payment platforms, holding hybrid events and migrating to virtual platforms. Employee training in digital skills is recommended for the events sector to keep pace with technological developments in the events tourism sector.

Keywords: Event tourism; COVID-19 pandemic; Resilience theory; Recovery strategies; Festivals and special event (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-24655-5_7

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-24655-5_7

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