Monitoring the global COVID-19 impact on tourism: The COVID19tourism index

Abstract

The COVID-19 virus is highly transmittable, wreaking havoc on the world's economy with the travel and tourism industry one of the most ravaged sectors. Given the impacts of COVID-19 and the intricacies of the global tourism economy, it is critical for policymakers to monitor recovery across numerous destinations. In this research note, we describe the development and calibration of an analytical tool named the “COVID19tourism index” to monitor the pandemic's tourism effects. As a powerful numerical and visual tool, the index provides important information related to the potential travel and tourism recovery at the global, regional, and country levels. Compared to a benchmark of “normal” levels (equal to 100 in this case), the COVID19tourism index offers insight into the tourism industry's recovery process along with the pandemic's impacts on numerous aspects of tourism.