Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 on the Performance of Tourism Business in Tanzania: A Case of Arusha Region.

Msemo, Wilfred Kazeniel (2021) Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 on the Performance of Tourism Business in Tanzania: A Case of Arusha Region. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

This study assessed effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of tourism business in Arusha Region, Tanzania. Specifically, this study determines perception of different stakeholders towards the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on tourism business performance, exploring effects of COVID-19 and recovery strategies employed by tourism business operators. In this study both primary and secondary data were collected from the respondents where sample size of 150 respondents was used. Questionnaire, interview, observation and documentary literature review methods were used to obtain information from various subsectors. In this regard, respondents were selected from different tourism subsectors such as attractions, accommodations and transportations. SPSS, content analysis and Microsoft Excel was used to analyze data generated for this study both qualitative and quantitative data. The findings revealed COVID-19 affects tourism business in all subsectors due to its multiplier effects in the economy. Drop by number of international tourist and loss of revenue identified as the major effects of COVID-19 which bring severe consequences in the study area. Majority of respondent perceive effects of COVID-19 on tourism business negatively and adopt various measures such as downsizing workforce, salary reduction, unpaid leave and employee pay-cut. Study recommends that, government support is needed urgently to assist tourism subsectors such accommodation and airline sectors that may otherwise go bankrupt. In conclusion, serious measures have to be taken, so as to serve the country from experiencing a dramatic contradiction in GDP. Tourism sector is among the major source of employment, government revenue and foreign exchange earnings. Keywords: Tourism business, COVID-19 pandemic, tourism performance

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