Abstract
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global tourism and hospitality industries has been profound (Sharma et al., 2022; Sigala, 2020). Not since the terrorist attacks in New York in September 2011 have we seen global travel impacts as wide-ranging and as severe. Tourism and hospitality have shown incredible resilience in the past, with international arrivals recovering quickly after crises and periods of restructuring and diversification providing opportunities for entrepreneurship, product development and the emergence of new destinations (Beirman, 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic, however, is proving longer-lasting than the previous period of crisis. After emerging in China in late 2019, the virus has spread to every corner of the globe, but it has been experienced differently in different destinations. Some countries adopted severe lockdowns, while others took a more laissez-faire approach, at least initially (Cheng et al., 2022). Vaccines and other medical interventions that can prevent or mitigate the impacts of the pandemic have also been unequally distributed. National interests and corporate power have undermined the potential for a truly global approach to the pandemic, with vaccine nationalism undermining efforts to distribute medicines to the developing world (Wagner et al., 2021). The pandemic is not yet over, although the worst may have passed for many richer countries.