ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF COVID-19 ON TOURISM IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The global community wake up in December 2019 to an outbreak of a disease named Coronavirus disease 2019 (abbreviated as COVID-19). The disease was described as an infectious disease that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. The COVID-19 disease has spread to about 196 countries and territories in every continent across the globe. Since then, there has been concerted effort to curtail the further spread of the infection which is believed to be transmitted by human-to-human. The disease has greatly slowed down economic activities across the world, with many countries coming under partial or total lockdown. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in mass production shutdowns and supply chain disruptions causing global ripple effects across all economic sectors in a manner that was never expected. It is projected that the spread of the disease will have serious humanitarian challenges to the countries of the world and especially Africa and Nigeria in particular. Economically, the effects have already been felt

as demand for Africa’s raw materials and commodities in global market has declined and Africa’s access to industrial components and manufactured goods from other regions of the world has been hampered. This is causing further uncertainty in a continent already grappling with widespread geopolitical and economic instability (Morné et al., 2020).

Some of the measures put in place by the Nigerian government in its effort to curtail the further spread of covid-19 include social distancing and staying at home policy in which workers are expected to work from their individual houses and public gatherings of all kind were banned. This policy imposed limitations in spending and declining consumptions. Many factories have responded by shutting down

or cutting down production and output, while in other instances, staff work from home to limit physical contact. This has the potential of worsening the poverty and unemployment challenges in Nigeria. The last unemployment report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) ranks Nigeria 21st among 181 countries with an unemployment rate of about 23.1%. The country has also been rated as the

poverty capital of the world with an estimated 87 million people living on less than $2 a day threshold (CSEA, 2020).

The tourism industry was affected as the travel opportunities for Chinese tourists, who usually spend billions annually, were severely curtailed. There were increased flight cancellations, cancelled hotel bookings and cancelled local and international events worth over $200billion. The flow of goods through Global supply chains vastly reduced significantly given that China was the world’s largest manufacturer and exporter, and the Chinese government ordered the closure of major factories (Ozili &

Arun, 2020).

The tourism industry is fast becoming a major source of employment contributing greatly to the GDPs of many countries of the world. Although Nigeria has not taking advantage of the great potentials in the tourism industry over the years, the sector is gradually contributing to the country’s GDP and economic development in recent times. The coronavirus triggered a new type of recession that was different from the past triggers of recession (Ozili & Arun, 2020). Ozili and Arun observed that the 2016 recession in Nigeria was caused by the fall in the price of crude oil, balance of payment deficit, adoption of a floating exchange rate regime, an increase in the pump price of petrol, activities of pipeline vandals, and infrastructure weaknesses. Much fear is now being expressed that Nigeria will slide into another recession as a result of this covid-19 disease.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Tourism has become a major and an integral part of economic, social and physical development (Viyaja, 2016). It comprises complete system of nature, the universe, the space and the galaxy which includes the man and his activities, wildlife, mountain and valleys, rivers and waters, forest and trees, social and cultural system, flora and fauna, weather and climate, sun and the sea. Tourism is a service industry, consisting of transportation, accommodation and hospitality. The term tourism and travel are often used interchangeably though literallythere is a difference. The tourism industry is the major sector of the economy of any nation.tourism brings in large amount of income in payment of goods and services available,it also create significant opportunity for employment in the service sector of the economy associated with tourism. With the outbreak of covid19, the pandemic will affect the tourism sector the most As countries of the world continue to place travel restrictions and closure of their borders, cruise companies, hotels and hospitality industries are facing declining demand and patronage.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The primary objective of this study is:

i.          To find out how has covid19 affected the tourism sector

ii.        To investigate how much of it has affected social and economic activities

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i.          How much effects has covid 19 had on the tourism sector

ii.        How has it affected social and economic activities

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This study will be of significance to the general public but mostly to the public and private sector policy makers to aid during policy making and implementation.and it will also be of great use to researchers as it serve as reference materials

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will focus on the effects covid19 has on tourism sector in Nigeria, using Cross river state as sample respondent.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Finance was a major challenge during the course of this research,availabilty of material and time constraint were also challenges encountered while carrying out this study

DEFINITION OF TERMS

COVID 19: Corona virus disease 2019(covid19) is defined as an illness caused by a novel corona virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2(SARA-CoV-2)

TOURISM: The commercial organization and operation of holidays and visits to places of interest

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