Lessons for resilience building in tourism and hospitality: the case of New Zealand

Abstract

Purpose

This opinion piece outlines the actions taken by the New Zealand government and tourism sectors in response to Covid-19 and to explore the potential lessons for resilience building in tourism for other destinations.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis integrates descriptions of the Covid-19 outbreak and tourism-related policy responses in New Zealand, taken from prominent medical, governmental and journalistic accounts.

Findings

The resilience of the economy and domestic tourism was a major New Zealand policy priority, but this was seen by the Ardern administration as best achieved by first ensuring the health and well-being of the populace, as quickly and comprehensively as possible. This, in turn, required proactive, nationally coordinated measures designed to minimize the spread of Covid-19 including: lockdowns, preventive social-distancing and mask mandates, a four-level graduated strategy for ensuring national Covid-19 recovery (which later morphed into the “traffic light” system) and closely following the medical and epidemiological advice of experts in the related academic sciences. As a result of these, the negative impact on health, the overall economy and the tourism sector was substantially minimized, when compared with many other similar nations during the 2020–2022 period.

Originality/value

The New Zealand experience holds important lessons for preserving and rebuilding the hospitality and tourism industry in the aftermath of Covid-19, and during future similar pandemics.

Citation

Munasinghe, S., Powell, L., Herath, H.M. and Frey, R.A. (2022), "Lessons for resilience building in tourism and hospitality: the case of New Zealand", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 604-609. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-05-2022-0055