Of azerbaijan high technical educational institutions

 
 

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PAHTEI 
PROCEEDINGS OF AZERBAIJAN HIGH TECHNICAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 
VOLUME 27 ISSUE 04 2023 
E-ISSN: 2674-5224 
THE IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ON TOURISM AND 
THE MAIN PROBLEMS OF THE TOURISM SECTOR IN THE POST-
PANDEMIC PERIOD 
 
Samira Rustamova
1
, Almurad Eyyubov
2 
1
Doctor of Philosophy in Economics,
2
Master student, [e-mail] 
1,2 
Department of Economics and Technological Sciences, 
1,2 
Azerbaijan State University of Economics 
ABSTRACT 
Tourism has become an important global economic activity, especially after World War II. Today, 
tourism accounts for 8% of global output and 10% of employment alone, with a growth rate of 4-
5%. In addition, tourism affects more than 135 sectors with a high multiplier effect, contributes to 
the balance of payments by generating foreign exchange earnings, and activates many leading 
industries such as transport, trade, construction, health and finance. Although tourism is an 
important global economic sector, it is highly vulnerable to crises in any country or region of the 
world. Since the demand for tourism does not have a structure that can be postponed, it paints a 
picture that is very vulnerable to security problems, economic crisis and health related problems. 
Tourism products and services are non-storable products, so they cannot be stored for future sale 
like physical goods. Rooms and tables not reserved today cannot be sold later. With the exception 
of a few examples in the past (eg the economic crisis of 2008), crises have had regional effects 
and have reached a level to have a limited impact on global tourism movements. Given the impact 
and speed, it's hard to say the global tourism industry has faced a crisis like COVID-19 before. It 
was inevitable that the Covid 19 pandemic would deeply affect countries' economies, causing 
losses in production, employment and income. In all economies affected by the epidemic, the cost 
collapse (demand shock) in important service sectors, especially transport, tourism and trade, was 
deepening and spreading rapidly throughout the economies. On top of all this, along with 
financial shocks, the real economy started to contract with supply and demand shocks. Among the 
sectors affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, the service sector is at the forefront. Because of travel 
restrictions, the biggest demand drop has come from household spending, especially for the 
tourism sector. Service sectors such as transport, hotels and restaurants, entertainment, sports and 
cultural events, especially air transport, are among the sectors most affected by the epidemic. 
Since the identification of a new virus named as coronavirus (COVID 19) by the World Health 
Organization on January 7, 2020, the virus has had a major impact on the economies of the world 
at the global level. During this period, there were declines and declines in most areas. The tourism 
sector had already almost collapsed. The closing of the country's borders led to zero tourist trips in 
all parts of the world. Of course, in addition to the closure of the country's borders, tourists also 
have to postpone their trips for an indefinite period, paying more attention to their health. 
Due to the absence of tourist trips, tourism enterprises also faced difficulties in their activities. In 
particular, the activity of large enterprises became more difficult. However, despite all this, the 
pandemic period has created an opportunity for tourism enterprises to improve their infrastructure, 
increase the variety and quality of services, and train personnel as specialists. In addition, 
enterprises played a certain role in the development of domestic tourism by accepting tourists who 
could not go to foreign countries due to the closure of borders. So, already in that period, the 
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