Counting the Social Costs of Tourism in the COVID-19 Era

PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management | August 13, 2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism scholars and practitioners have directed their attention to local communities in tourist destinations, examining their safety and well-being and the costs that they bear due to tourism activities. Yet according to the SHTM’s Professor Haiyan Song and Dr Jinah Park and their co-researchers, it is now time to discuss the social costs of tourism during crises. How much are local communities willing to sacrifice to reduce these costs? Analysing local residents’ willingness to pay to alleviate public health risk, the researchers explored the situation through an economic lens. Their findings have importan...