March 2020: 31 days that will reshape tourism

Lessons from previous endemics/pandemics show which type/timing of public health measures had a significant influence on the impact of diseases. However, those show that public health measures and travel restrictions represent a significant burden on countries’ economies, especially in the tourism industry. This study aims to investigate whether a country’s dependence on tourism might influence the time/nature of pandemic mitigation measures and the impact of the pandemic on tourism, particularly in the hospitality sector. To achieve a comprehensive/multidimensional perspective, 12 European countries were studied based on the collection of data from 6 different sources: cases/deaths caused by the disease, economic indicators, public health measures, rooms supply/demand, reservation/cancellation rates, demographic and healthcare system characteristics. Using data science techniques/methods allowed to verify that the dependence of some countries on tourism did not make them to have a different behaviour in terms of the application of measures. Despite the differences in the timings/types of measures implemented, tourism was highly affected in all countries.