TOURISM POLICY CHALLENGES AMID COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated tourist turnover and caused a crisis of unprecedented proportions in the tourism economy. The strong impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector requires even stronger response of tourism policy, whose primary task is to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic and, firstly, to propose measures to support the current tourism sector, and then measures aimed at recovering this activity and increasing its flexibility and resistance to future challenges. In this regard, the aim of the paper is to emphasize the importance of effective and responsible tourism policy in crisis situations and point out the numerous challenges faced by tourism policy makers when defining measures to support the tourism economy. By applying qualitative economic analysis, it was concluded that there is no single solution, i.e. universal measures and universal packages of assistance to the tourism sector equally applicable and effective for all countries, but that each country, when creating tourism policy, should respect its own specifics and strive to create a package of measures that will generate the best results in the national framework.