Impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry in the northeastern region of Bangladesh

Global tourism, owing to its inherent vulnerability compared to other economic sectors, has been severely impacted by coronavirus diseases. In both the developing and developed world, tourism significantly contributes to local economies by creating jobs and accounting for a substantial portion of countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry. For this purpose, we collected opinions from a total of 384 respondents working in hotels and restaurants in tourist areas in the northeastern region of Bangladesh using a self-administered questionnaire. Our results indicate that more than half of the respondents noted a decrease in tourist arrivals during the pandemic, with over 48% of the hotels having to lay off employees due to financial constraints and approximately 45% offering wage reductions. Moreover, 25% of the restaurants reported a decline in customers, and 33% stated that their customer traffic was lower than the previous year. We also employed multinomial logistic regression to examine how changes in the number of tourists and salaries influenced employee retrenchment and the income of hotels and restaurants during the pandemic period. The multinomial logistic regression reveals that an increase in the number of customers raised the likelihood of increased income for restaurants and hotels, while higher salaries acted as a negative factor toward restaurant income. In conclusion, this study will assist policymakers in understanding the vulnerability of the tourism sector at the local level and in implementing practical economic security measures that can help them to be more resilient to secure this vital sector from the impacts of pandemics and local epidemic situations.