Does domestic tourism influence COVID-19 cases and deaths?
Author(s)
Nunkoo, Robin
Daronkola, Hassan Kalantari
Gholipour, Hassan F
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2021
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Motivated by the current local travel restrictions imposed by most countries around the world, we examine the relationship between domestic travels and the COVID-19 cases and deaths. We use data from more than 90 countries and apply multivariate regressions for two different periods (January–June 2020 and July–December 2020). We control for a number of variables, including the Covid-19 Government Response Stringency Index, which is very comprehensive in its conceptualization. Using 2SLS estimators, we provide evidence that countries with higher levels of domestic travels experienced higher levels of COVID-19 cases and deaths ...
View more >Motivated by the current local travel restrictions imposed by most countries around the world, we examine the relationship between domestic travels and the COVID-19 cases and deaths. We use data from more than 90 countries and apply multivariate regressions for two different periods (January–June 2020 and July–December 2020). We control for a number of variables, including the Covid-19 Government Response Stringency Index, which is very comprehensive in its conceptualization. Using 2SLS estimators, we provide evidence that countries with higher levels of domestic travels experienced higher levels of COVID-19 cases and deaths over the first six months of pandemic. However, domestic tourism decorrelated with the pandemic spread from July to December 2020. Theoretically, we demonstrate that during the early stages of Covid-19, domestic tourism is potentially a vector of the virus spread, but once a country is hit by the pandemic, other local factors take precedence. Practically, these findings provide empirical support to governments policies to restrict residents’ non-essential domestic travels to reduce spreading the virus during the first few months of the pandemic.
View less >
View more >Motivated by the current local travel restrictions imposed by most countries around the world, we examine the relationship between domestic travels and the COVID-19 cases and deaths. We use data from more than 90 countries and apply multivariate regressions for two different periods (January–June 2020 and July–December 2020). We control for a number of variables, including the Covid-19 Government Response Stringency Index, which is very comprehensive in its conceptualization. Using 2SLS estimators, we provide evidence that countries with higher levels of domestic travels experienced higher levels of COVID-19 cases and deaths over the first six months of pandemic. However, domestic tourism decorrelated with the pandemic spread from July to December 2020. Theoretically, we demonstrate that during the early stages of Covid-19, domestic tourism is potentially a vector of the virus spread, but once a country is hit by the pandemic, other local factors take precedence. Practically, these findings provide empirical support to governments policies to restrict residents’ non-essential domestic travels to reduce spreading the virus during the first few months of the pandemic.
View less >
Journal Title
Current Issues in Tourism
Note
This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advanced online version.
Subject
Marketing
Tourism
Public health
Social Sciences
Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism
Social Sciences - Other Topics
Domestic tourism
mobility