Local economic impact of COVID-19 on the urban tourism-related services: a perspective of Kochi Heritage City, Kerala

• Main Authors: Rahman, Fazlur, Abd. Halim, Norhazliza, Abdul Ahad, Abdul Ahad, Aftab Alam, Aftab Alam, Kahkashan Noor, Kahkashan Noor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2023
• Subjects: H Social Sciences (General); HT Communities. Classes. Races
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/107354/1/NorhazlizaAbdHalim2023_LocalEconomicImpactofCOVID19.pdf; http://eprints.utm.my/107354/; http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su152416585
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic has had extremely distressful consequences for the service-providing industries, especially in the sector of tourism. The world is showing a move towards the recovery stage; however, the process has observed a lag in recovery because of a gap in the literature on measuring the local economic impact of COVID-19 on the employability of urban tourism. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the economic impact of COVID-19 on the local market and other tourism-related services in Kochi Heritage City, Kerala. Quantitative research was performed based on stratified sampling with a questionnaire survey among 398 respondents. Data were analyzed descriptively to evaluate the impact and measure the significant difference statistically through a one-sample t-test and a one-way ANOVA. Findings revealed that employability from tourism-related services has observed an adverse impact of COVID-19 by a dip in the local economy in terms of earning reduction, whereas the impact on jobs and reduction in working hours were lopsided. Hence, in identifying the effect of COVID-19 on urban tourism and its sub-scaled classes, it contributes more effectively by intervening with recovery and supporting the local economy through a balanced allocation of financial assistance to the economic dip in Kochi.