COVID-19 Research in Hospitality and Tourism: Critical Analysis, Reflection, and Lessons Learned

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected everyday life and business. To describe the impacts, 566 COVID-19-related articles were published between January 2020 and March 2022 in 18 hospitality and tourism journals. This study identifies the research streams, using content and bibliometric analyses. Content analysis and co-citation analysis revealed six research streams and four research clusters, respectively. A critical analysis was conducted to reflect the theoretical and practical implications and provide suggestions for future research directions. The identified research weaknesses include concerns relating to generalizability, sampling and measurement-related issues, online survey methods, failure to identify different stakeholders’ views on the adoption of new technologies, lack of practical coping scheme studies, lack of effort to adopt multidisciplinary theories, and little exploration of customers’ reactions to virtual events. Results of this study can help facilitate and consolidate the knowledge on the impacts of the pandemic and proactively prepare for future disease crises.