Global Crises Affecting Tourism and Strategies Applied During the Crisis Period: 2000-2021 Period

Abstract

According to the World Tourism Organization, tourism is seen as one of the fastest growing sectors in the modern world. In the last seventy years, the number of tourists has increased more than 50 times from 25 million to 1.180 million. The infrastructure of transportation is very important in reaching destination points in tourism. This infrastructure can become vulnerable during natural disasters, technological disasters, man-made disasters and civil unrest. Tourism as a sector is often susceptible to economic, political and cultural disturbances, while increased violence or civil unrest can cause equally harmful and distressing disasters. In the last ten years, various disasters and crises have occurred in tourism, including terrorist attacks. These disasters and national emergencies have made the survival of the tourism industry difficult. In this study, it is aimed to reveal the size of the crises affecting the tourism sector between 2000 and 2021 and the strategies carried out to cope with the crisis. In this direction, the crises that have occurred on a global scale within 20 years have been revealed and its reflection on the tourism industry has been tried to be explained. According to the research, global crises cause a decline in incomes in the tourism sector and a decrease in tourism-based employment. It has been concluded that marketing-promotion and restructuring strategies should be put forward in order to reduce the effects of the crises.