The Impact of Infectious Epidemic on Tourism. A Case Study of Coronavirus Disease
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
To examine impact of the outbreak of covid-19 on performance of tourism industry in Nigeria. Specific objectives
- To evaluate the economic implications of covid-19 outbreak on Tourism industry in Nigeria.
- To examine the impact of covid-19reporting by the mass media in shaping opinions on Nigeria’s tourism.
- To assess the state of preparedness of the Nigeria Government in case of an outbreak of an epidemic of global nature.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
GLOBAL PANDEMIC OF NOVEL CORONA (COVID 19)
Tourism is a reason for most of the human mobility in the modern world. According to the World Tourism Organization (2020), the international tourism has indicated continues growth for the tenth consecutive year reporting 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals in 2019 and estimated 1.8 billion of international tourist arrivals by 2030 )people are forecasted to be (UN News, 2017). Reporting the COVID 19 or the Corona outbreak started from Hubei province, Wuhan City in China in November, 2019 and spread all over the world by March, 2020 has been remarkable in world history as the most challenging tragedy occurred in the world after decades may be the World War II. The major disruptions on the global economy from the transmission of this virus especially to the retail sector, food, consumer goods, healthcare delivery and a potential curtailing of travel and tourism as major drivers of the most of the countries in the world is in immeasurable and severe than expected by many. The situation should be strategically addressed with suitable proactive and reactive measures considering the current situation and to overcome future threats to ensure the socio economic wellbeing of all humans keeping space for increased travel and tourism.
However, the decisions on limiting the movements of people and commodity mainly affected to the industries like tourism, because, tourism include air transportation, sea transportation, food handling, accommodation sector, entertainment and recreation etc. Considering the impact of Covid 19 pandemic on Nigeria tourism, it can be noticed that Nigeria earns better reputation than the other countries in the world in controlling Covid 19 pandemic; arrangement of quarantine facilities and medical facilities even for foreigners while other developed countries announce nonresidents to leave the country, appliance of personal protective equipment in handling airline/sea line passengers at the respective ports, continuation of supply of basic human needs, extension of visas for foreigners securing them with available facilities etc. Hence, this situation would be favorable in flourishing Nigeria Tourism in the future even though it earns losses today.
Being a country with very less experiences on global health epidemics during the last few decades, Nigeria did not have a clear predetermined technical agenda for such a worse tragedy. However, with this limited experience, Nigeria reported to be the first country which has taken the mitigation and necessary controlling actions for COVID 19 after China. Even China has taken the action as the cases started to be reported from the country with deaths. Nigerian government started with quarantining and some specific health measures and preparedness at airport with thermal scanners before the first case found from the country. The first case of Corona infected patients (a Chinese tourist) reported from Nigeria on February, 18 of 2020 and after a short silence, the second patient was reported.
Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia
Etiological Characteristics
The novel coronaviruses belong to the β genus. They have envelopes, and the particles are round or oval, often polymorphic, with diameter being 60 to 140 nm. Their genetic characteristics are significantly different from SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Current research shows that they share more than 85% homology with bat SARS-like coronaviruses (bat-SL-CoVZC45). When isolated and cultured in vitro, the 2019-nCoV can be found in human respiratory epithelial cells in about 96 hours, however it takes about 6 days for the virus to be found if isolated and cultured in Vero E6 and Huh-7 cell lines.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This section covers the study‟s research design, population and sampling, instruments of data collection and data collection and data analysis.
Research design
This was a quantitative research design that employed a survey design. The information gathered from the various respondents was rendered measurable through the method of data analysis. The qualitative research is a social research which helped in testing perceptions. Questionnaires were administered as an instrument to collect the data from the chosen respondents. The subjects of the study were provided with a self-administering questionnaire which was both closed and open-ended to enable collection of as much and rich data as possible.
Population and Sampling
Target population refers to persons of interest to the study. The study population for this study consisted of the players in the tourism industry in Nigeria. These include the population employed in the airlines plying the different world routes from Nigeria, those within the hotel industry, the tour operators.
The Nigeria Economic report (2013), estimates the total population employed directly and indirectly within the tourism industry as 785,382. Since the effects of the outbreak of the virus have had trickle-down effects on almost all the tourism sectors in Africa, the researcher therefore targeted this population employed within the tourism sector in order to get a clear picture of how the outbreak has worn down on the economy.
The sample size
The targeted sample for this study was players in the tourism industry in Nigeria, namely staff and management of obudu cattle ranch. A sample size of 50 respondents was sampled for this study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION DATA AND ANALYSIS
Introduction
This chapter discusses the study findings through a critical analysis. The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of Covid-19 on performance of tourism industry in Nigeria. Data composed was collated and reports were produced. Findings from open-ended questions were also presented in prose. The researcher made use of frequency tables, figures and qualitative analysis to present data.
Respondents Bio-data
This section presents data on gender, job rank, duration they‟ve worked in the organization and no. of employees‟ in the organization.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
This research sought to interrogate the impact of the outbreak of Covid-19 Disease on performance of the tourism industry in Nigeria. The study was pegged on three specific objectives which are; the impact of the Covid-19 Virus disease on the tourism sector in Nigeria, the role of the media in shaping the level of preparedness in Nigeria and the level of preparedness in Nigeria incase of an outbreak of Covid-19 Virus Disease in Nigeria. To get comprehensive information, the researcher used a semi-structured questionnaire which was self-administered to 100 respondents.
From the findings, all the respondents concurred that the Covid-19 Disease that broke out in china left a huge trail of losses. These losses ranged from loss of lives, economic downturns as well as psychological trauma to the citizens of the affected countries. However, the respondents agreed that the impact of Covid-19 was not limited to the affected countries alone and so the pandemic became a matter of world concern due to the interconnectedness and interdependency among all the countries in the world. Majority of those interviewed indicated that they became aware of Covid-19 for the first time in 2014. In relation to this, the respondents also indicated that they felt that the level of preparedness through the measures undertaken by the government of Nigeria were inadequate to insulate the country against any infection.
From the findings, it was evident that the effects of Covid-19 Virus in West Africa were felt in Nigeria. Although the outbreak was thousands of miles away from the country, the trickledown effect was almost equally felt in Nigeria and other African countries. This can be attributed to the interdependence in trade between Nigeria and West Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, Nigeria became vulnerable to Covid-19 infection owing to the 76 flight that arrive in country from West Africa. This highly affected the tourism sector due to the travel advisories that followed this. The hotel industry was badly affected as many hotels registered low bed occupancy and general bookings. Equally affected were other businesses that highly depend on the tourism sector like tour companies and curio businesses. Consequently, many hotels had to lay-off some of their employees in order to cut-off their operating costs.
The economic implication of this trend followed shortly as Nigeria continued reeling from the effects of the outbreak. First, the reduced number of tourist arrivals led to reduced foreign exchange, the reduced influx of tourists adversely affected other businesses related to tourism like hotel industry, tour companies and other informal sectors affiliated to tourism like curio business. The government highly lost owing to the reduced economic activities which indicated that there was a gross reduction in tax revenue. The large population laid off from employment also lowered the standards of living for the citizens. Therefore, the outbreak had far reaching implications than just the tourism sector only. On the other hand, the government was also forced to divert some of her resources towards instituting measures to ensure preparedness incase of an outbreak.
The media both locally and internationally played a significant role during the outbreak. Many Nigerians had never heard of Covid-19 and therefore they heard about it for the first time over the media. The media created awareness to the Nigerians who had never heard about this pandemic. Secondly, the government should always create confidence within the citizens about the spread. The citizens were well informed about the huge loss that the outbreak was causing in the affected countries. In relation to this, the media was also instrumental in disseminating information about the measures that the government was taking to ensure that the country was prepared incase of any outbreak. Therefore, the government used the media to communicate to the citizens about the measures it has taken to respond to any possible outbreak. The media also played agenda setting role. Through frequent reporting, the government was forced to institute the necessary steps for preparedness. Therefore, the media was instrumental in triggering action from the government.
Due to limited experience, the government worked in collaboration with Nigeria Red Cross. This was to ensure that the epidemic was well contained incase there was any reported infection. There was need to set up an isolation ward at Nigeriatta National Hospital while at the same time keeping strict surveillance at all border entry points to keep off any victims entering the country. Thorough training had to be given to enable personnel engage in sensitization of the public as well as dealing with any reported case of infection in the country. Resources had to be invested heavily in order to ensure that any reported cases could be dealt with. Due to widespread geographical cover the disease reached, the international community proposed a number of interventions to contain the epidemic.
Conclusion
The study concludes that there are economic implications of Covid-19 outbreak on Tourism Industry. As a result of the losses occasioned by the Covid-19 Disease, as well as the related mortality and morbidity, economic activity shrunk. This contraction reflects multiple cross- currents some of which include; falling sales in markets and stores, lower activity for restaurants, hotels, public and slowing activity among foreign companies as many expatriates leave, with a knock-on felt in lower demand for some services. The Covid-19 virus outbreak reduced Nigeria‟s revenues and increased her expenditure, especially in the health sector. The respondents agreed that tourism is a major contributor to Nigeria‟s GDP. Further they stated the country also saw a loss in hundreds of thousands of jobs in the sector. In this line, the Covid-19 crisis reduced revenue through cuts in economic activities and employment, and a reduction in tax compliance.
The country resorted to external support to bridge the financing gap. Inflationary pressures mounted as the crisis spread, hence undermining competitiveness for businesses and traders and reducing households‟ purchasing power. External assets were substantially reduced and local currencies depreciated as foreign trade tumbles and demand rises for dollars. Countries‟ currency reserves have also been hit.
Recommendations
- Disaster preparedness should feature predominantly in all risk analysis frameworks developed by states to contain contagious diseases. They should be tested and evaluated occasionally by designating relevant response teams which are equally equipped and funded. This should be done at both national and county level.
- All relevant authorities should work with mutual harmony to create vaccines in effort geared towards eliminating the pandemic from the world as it was done with the other killer diseases which affected the world before. Some cultural practices and beliefs which contribute to the spread of these diseases should be abolished. This may involve services of Anthropologists.
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