Hospitality and Tourism Sector in Post Covid-19

Abstract

The Corona virus (Covid-19) pandemic has brought about the closure of many businesses temporally while some could remained closed permanently if  the situation is not properly handled. But among the most affected are the hospitality and tourism businesses around the world. There is therefore the need for businesses to start preparing for the post covid-19 era, when they can reopen their business. This research was conducted to explore the things hospitality and tourism sector could do to prepare for the post covid-19 era. The paper reviewed opinion of experts and professionals in the industry using mainly desktop survey and explorative research method. It was found that there were diverse opinions on how the sector should prepare for the post covid-19 era but quite unanimous agreement on the fact that the hospitality and tourism sector must embraced enhanced health and safety changes to prepare for the post covid-19. The paper therefore conclude that a post covid-19 recovery plan with emphasis on infectious disease prevention is necessary and recommended that hospitality and tourism businesses should develop a post covid-19 health policy by re-evaluating their general business operation to capture the current health realities like physical distancing, use of face mask and frequent disinfectants of frequently touched surfaces among others. The post covid-19 plan could be segmented into the preparation, response and recovery phases to achieve a sustainable business reopening and growth. Government should also come up with post covid-19 economic plan which should among others set general health and economic guidance including stimulus packages to help businesses recover from the pandemic.