The economic and social impact of COVID‐19 on tourism and hospitality industry: A case study from Oman

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Habiba Al‐Mughairi,Preeti Bhaskar,Abdullah Alazri
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2786

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The economic and social impact of COVID-19 on tourism and

hospitality industry: A case study from Oman

Habiba Mohammed Said Al-Mughairi

1,2

| Preeti Bhaskar

1,3

|

Abdullah khalfan hamood Alazri

1

1

Department of Business Studies, University

of Technology and Applied Sciences, Al

Sharqiya North Governorate, Sultanate

of Oman

2

Al Sharqiya North Governorate, Ibra, Oman

3

ICFAI Business School, ICFAI University,

Dehradun, India

Correspondence

Preeti Bhaskar, University of Technology and

Applied Sciences, Ibra, Oman.

Email: preeti.bhaskar52@gmail.com

The COVID-19 pandemic has incurred a substantial economic and social impact

around the world. Many sectors have been drastically affected but the tourism and

hospitality industry was one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 outbreak globally.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused direct losses of half-billion Omani Rial to the

tourism sector. This pandemic has also exacerbated the mental health of business

owners of the tourism and hospitality industry in Oman. This research aims to inves-

tigate the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality

sector of Oman. The data was collected from business owners of micro, small,

medium, and large size-companies operating in the tourism and hospitality industry.

A structured questionnaire was distributed and data collection was done from

September 2020 to January 2021. The finding of the study reveals a negative eco-

nomic and social impact on the tourism and hospitality industry of Oman due to the

COVID-19 outbreak. The economic impact includes financial loss, reduction in cus-

tomer demand at a national and international level, disruptions in the logistics and

distribution channels, ruined the relationship with suppliers, customers, and

employees. The social impact included depression, irritation, anxiety, and stress

among the business owners about the present and future conditions. This study has

given valuable suggestion to mitigate the negative economic and social impact on the

tourism and hospitality industry of Oman. The finding of the study will support the

government to boost the tourism and hospitality industry in Oman.

KEYWORDS

COVID-19, economic impact, Oman, social impact, tourism and hospitality industry

1|INTRODUCTION

On December 31, 2019, the first case of deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19)

was reported in Wuhan, Hubei, China (World Health Organization, 2020).

The deadly virus was transmitted to the whole world-giving rise to uncer-

tain and unstable situation. As the pandemic spread across the globe, the

Sultanate of Oman also became its victim. To mitigate the effects of the

pandemic, the Omani government announced the first lockdown on April

10, 2020 and consecutively the lockdown was extended zone-wise based

on the severity of COVID-19 cases. Many businesses were completely

shut down, the stringent measure was announced for conducting busi-

ness activities in selected sectors only, and the tourism and hospitality

sector was not exempted from this regulation. The COVID-19 pandemic

has incurred a significant economic and social impact around the world

(United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 2020). Many

sectors have been drastically affected but tourism and hospitality industry

was one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 globally. A recent report by

the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) on May

2020, stated that sectors like hotels and restaurants and other travel and

tourism-related services were among the top five vulnerable sectors

Received: 10 April 2021 Revised: 13 September 2021 Accepted: 18 October 2021

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2786

J Public Affairs. 2022;22(Suppl. 1):e2786. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of11

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2786