How tourism businesses are adapting to Covid-19 : insight from the fright tourism industry

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has revamped the global tourism industry, impacting the livelihoods of millions of tourism workers and disrupting host communities. Current research in tourism management has focused on understanding the economic, social and political impacts of the pandemic. This study aims to examine operational adaptations that businesses in the fright tourism industry have adopted in the new COVID-19 pandemic circumstances. The study examined industry association press releases regarding changes businesses employed to adapt during the pandemic through content analysis. Findings suggest that businesses made a variety of operational changes, such as changing queueing, diversification of props and changes to make-up hygiene, allowing these businesses to survive pandemic imperatives.