The response of tourism businesses vis-à-vis the economic ramifications of SARS-CoV-2 - Opening intellectual and real avenues for innovations

The AIEST*, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism, has embarked on allocating, interpreting as well as reporting about key ramifications of the SARS-CoV-2 crisis.
The second short report, provided by a joint work of 25 co-authors, including myself, is out now. It topicalizes the response of businesses vis-à-vis the economic ramifications of SARS-CoV-2.

This report can now be downloaded at https://www.aiest.org/news/.

In short: Since many tourism and leisure activities can contribute significantly to the spread of SARS-CoV-2, it is not surprising that corresponding business activities have to endure a comprehensive and long lockdown. The response options of various industries to this lockdown are limited. However, as this short report shows, there are systematic, albeit limited, solutions to limit the economic impact to a certain extent by their own efforts.

*The AIEST is the oldest international association of scientific and practical experts with particular interest in tourism. It is a unique social network with around 300 members in 49 countries on all continents. This network is devoted to an interdisciplinary approach to serving the needs of research in tourism. It includes an Academic as well as a Practitioner stream that allow an international scientific and practical exchange. The AIEST has contributed much to an objective understanding of the modern phenomenon of tourism, and to the scientific acceptance of studies in this field. Its members help to pinpoint the latest developments and trends in tourism, and to devise farsighted solutions for new problems as they arise.
Find more at https://www.aiest.org/aiest-profile/profile/. 

How can governments legally and easily inject liquidity into the services sector? By means of tax credits on the basis of the GST/ VAT framework

In my contribution of 22 March (https://www.christianlaesser.net/2020/03/cash-is-king-its-time-for-helicopter.html) I argued that loans are problematic for companies in the service sector and that alternative solutions to overcome liquidity crunches should be considered. However, the aim of any measure should be that it has a general fiscal stimulating effect but at the same time does not distort competition and requires as little discretion as possible in the specific individual application. One possibility for such a measure is to refund value added taxes/ goods and sales taxes by means of temporary tax credits.

How and when will tourism recover during and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic?

We are currently in a medical, economic and psychological crisis. On the one hand, this crisis could awaken new or dormant needs, but on the other hand some of these needs - for the moment - will only be met to a limited extent. The way out of the crisis will therefore be a step-by-step one, and in fulfillment of step-specific needs.

The response of governments vis-à-vis the economic ramifications of SARS-CoV-2

The AIEST*, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism, has embarked on allocating, interpreting as well as reporting about key ramifications of the SARS-CoV-2 crisis.
The first short report, provided by a joint work of 25 co-authors, including myself, is out now. It topicalizes the response of governments vis-à-vis the economic ramifications of SARS-CoV-2.

This report can now be downloaded at https://www.aiest.org/news/.

In short: Many economic activities have more or less come to a standstill since measures were taken against the spread of SARS-CoV-2. This includes tourism in particular.
Governments in various countries have therefore taken measures to cushion the economic costs of this shutdown.
This brief report presents and comments some of these measures as well as countries in which they have been implemented or planned.

*The AIEST is the oldest international association of scientific and practical experts with particular interest in tourism. It is a unique social network with around 300 members in 49 countries on all continents. This network is devoted to an interdisciplinary approach to serving the needs of research in tourism. It includes an Academic as well as a Practitioner stream that allow an international scientific and practical exchange. The AIEST has contributed much to an objective understanding of the modern phenomenon of tourism, and to the scientific acceptance of studies in this field. Its members help to pinpoint the latest developments and trends in tourism, and to devise farsighted solutions for new problems as they arise.

Find more at https://www.aiest.org/aiest-profile/profile/.