Dissertation: Analysis of Italian Tourism Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

This dissertation, submitted for a BSc (Hons) in Business Management, examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian tourism. The research explores the determinants of Italian tourism, the reasons behind the decline during the pandemic, and the strategies implemented in response. The study includes an introduction providing context, followed by a literature review analyzing factors such as cultural attractions, safety, and transportation costs. The methodology chapter details the research process, approach, and tools used. The findings present data, while the discussion interprets the data. The conclusion offers recommendations and implications for further research, providing a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and adaptations within the Italian tourism sector during and after the pandemic. The dissertation includes an abstract, acknowledgement, glossary, list of tables, figures, and appendices, references, and a bibliography.

BSc (Hons) Business Management Top up
BMP6001 Dissertation
Italian tourism and pandemic
Name:
ID Number:
Supervisor:

Table of Contents
Abstract i
Acknowledgement ii
Glossary iii
List of Tables iv
List of Figures v
List of Appendices vi
Chapter 1: Introduction 1-p
1.1 Background/Context of the Research p
1.4 Research Questions p
1.5 Research Aims and Objectives p
Chapter 2: Literature Review p-p
2.1 Introduction of Literature Review p
2.2 Main body with heading and sub-headings p
2.3 Conclusion of Literature Review p
Chapter 3: Methodology p-p
3.1 Research Process p
3.2 Research Approach p
3.3 Research Strategy p
3.4 Research Methodology and Tools p
3.6 Sampling Approach p
3.6 Ethical Implications p
Chapter 4: Findings (Data Presentation) p
Chapter 5: Discussion (Data Interpretation) p

Chapter 6: Conclusion, Recommendations and Implications for
Further Research p
7.1 Conclusion p
7.2 Recommendations p
7.3 Implications for Further Research p
References p
Bibliography p
Word Count p
Appendices p

Abstract
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Acknowledgement
First of all, I am thankful to God for making me capable that I am able to carry
on the research. I am also thankful to my teachers and supervisors that have given
me opportunity to conduct research. Also, my teachers helped me at each and every
stage of conducting this research report. Due to the guidance and support I am able
to complete the overall project effectively and at right time.
Now, I am able to understand the impacts of Covid-19 on tourism sectors
properly. All the reason of losses and the impact on the firms operating in tourism
sector were analysed. I am thankful to the local people, shopkeepers and the
travellers who helped me to complete the research effectively. Their answers and
support were necessary to analyse the impact properly.
In the end, I want to thank my family members for helping me to reach at this
position. Also their support was necessary to complete the research during this time.
Glossary
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List of Tables
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List of Figures
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List of Appendices
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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background/Context of the Research
There are regular changes in the market and that impacts the operations of business
organisation. It is seen that recently the world has faced the issue related to Covid-
19 pandemic. The pandemic has direct impact on the hospitality industry and its
operations. People around the world are scared from the pandemic and this impacts
the tourism industry (Del Chiappa, 2021). The major tourism destinations around the
world are facing issues related to pandemic. The people were in need of living at a
safe place and were not willing to go out for the purpose of leisure. The virus was
spreading at a rapid rate and due to this reason people were not ready to step out of
the house. Italy has faced major issues due to pandemic situation the tourism
destinations have seen low occupancy. The Italian tourism is famous part of
European country. People visit the place due to its rich culture, history, cuisine,
fashion, architecture and art. Tourism is a good source of GDP contribution. Tourism
is one of the significant part of hospitality industry and helps to generate effective
employment opportunity to the people (Collins-Kreiner and Ram, 2020). There are
various famous destinations that are present at Italy that enhances their tourism and
help to earn good amount of revenue. There id impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the
Italian tourism. This research report is based on analysing the main determinants
related to the tourism. The strategies being formulated by Italian tourism in order to
overcome the situation are mentioned in the report. It is important to critically
evaluate all the strategies that they have taken so that there is no problem faced in
future. The methods and tools used to carry on the research are also discussed in
the report. In the end some recommendations for overall research report are
mentioned.
Research Rationale
The reason behind choosing the research topic is to know about the
challenges faced by Italian tourism due to the pandemic situation. The pandemic has
influence on all the sectors of business and this dissertation is being carried to know
about the impact on Italian tourism (Roccetti and Casini, 2021). This research helps
the researcher to know about various important aspects related to the topic with the
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help of literature review. It is necessary to use the research skills in effective manner
in order to gain knowledge about the topic of research. This will help to enhance the
knowledge and also develop skills after successful completion of this research
report. My personal interest is to get a good in tourism sector and this research will
help me to know about the problems faced by the tourism sector and the actions that
they have taken to improve the problem and hurdle.
1.2 Research Question (s)
 What are the determinant factors of Italian tourism?
 What was the reason of decline in Italian tourism due to COVID 19?
 What are the steps taken by Italian tourism after pandemic?
1.5 Research Aims and Objectives
Aim: To analyse the impact of pandemic on Italian tourism.
 To evaluate the Italian tourism
 To assess the knowledge about the declination in the Italian tourism due to
COVID-19.
 To analyse steps taken by Italian tourism after pandemic
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction of Literature Review
Literature review is one of the important chapter of dissertation. It includes
secondary research regarding the topic with the help of articles, books, magazines,
publication research (Oztemel and Gursev, 2020). It is necessary to use
authenticated sources so that proper details and information can be mentioned. The
sources will be related to the topic and will help to understand and gain insights. The
impact will be understood by doing literature review section.
2.2 Main body with heading and sub-headings
What are the determinant factors of Italian tourism?
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According to the Tsionas, (2020) Tourism is a cultural, social and economic
phenomenon that entails the movement of people from one country to another. It
may be for the purpose of business or self-entertainment. The organisations in
tourism sector work to enhance the experience of people by attracting them and
providing them proper place to accommodate and provide them quality food. The
destination is so attractive that all the people like to visit the same. There are various
activities that are undertaken so that the people enjoy their visit.
As per the view point of Atsız, Leoni and Akova, (2020) There are certain activities
that are part of tourism and have impact on tourist activity. All the people have their
own needs and wants the tourist organisation has to fulfil. It is necessary to
understand the needs and wants of the customers and then provide them
accordingly. This will make them successful but the Covid-19 pandemic has changed
the scenario. There are certain determinants of Italian tourism that have impact on
the tourism activity. The beauty of the place is a determinant and it helps to attract
tourist towards the place. There are certain destinations that attract the people and
enhance the number of visitors. Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO
World Heritage Sites in the world. The monuments attract the people to visits the
place. There are certain places like Rome, Venice and Florence that attract more
and more people since centuries. It is known as city of art and this is the reason the
place is successful. Italy is ranked 34th on the list of world's safest countries. It is
safe place for the tourist and the local people ae also supporting in nature. They
build relations with clients and enhance their experience.
As per the opinion of Fernández and et.al., (2020) The place that is safe and
secure attracts the people and help them to manage their working. There is need of
taking proper care of all the determinants so that more people are attracted towards
the destination. There is need of taking proper care of all the people that come to
visit the place and are tourist. The cost of transportation is also affordable in Italy that
help tourist to visit the place. There is key role of the cost of transportation on the
tourist and there visits. They also have fixed budget and if the cost of transportation
is high then the tourist has to face issues in working. Along with that the place is
good for food and provide high quality food. The cuisine provided by the restaurants
in Italy enhances the attractiveness of the people. It is seen that the beverage and
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food provided makes the people to visits the place again. There is need of maintain
effective quality of food and provide them complementary services so that they are
attracted towards the place. It is necessary to enhance the quality of food and to
provide the famous and traditional food of Italy. The hotels and restaurants are also
designed in such a manner that they attract the people over there. The tourists enjoy
the place as the food provided to them is of good quality. It is important to take care
of all these determinants so that the destination is able to attract more and more
people towards the place. The culture of the place also attracts the people. They
take care about the history of the place and there are certain programmes that help
to know about the culture of the place. The people like to know about the history and
thus Italy attracts them. All the determinants like beauty, monuments, art, culture
transportation of the place are combined together to make the place successful.
What was the reason of decline in Italian tourism due to COVID 19?
According to Covid-19 impact: Italy's tourism sector estimated to shrink by
100 bn euros, (2020) The Covid-19 pandemic enhanced the fear in the mind of
people. They were not ready to step out of the homes due to the spread of virus. The
tourism of Italy has shown staggering of 100 billion euros ($118 billion). The tourist is
scared to visits the place due to the pandemic situation. There is loss due to the
imposed restrictions in the areas. There was situation of lockdown being noticed in
the nation and the major expenses was on health and medical facilities. The tourism
sector is major contributor to Italy’s economy and the pandemic situation has
reduced the tourism at the place. There was fall in tourist rate at the time if Covid-19
pandemic. The tourism industry has faced a major issue of Covid-19 that has taken
the industry to loss situation. The change was observed in the industry and the
tourist organisations were unable to earn any profit. The major reason of losses in
Covid-19 is fear among the members. All the industries in Italy were impacted by the
situation and the guidelines of government was to bring lockdown.
As per the opinion of Beria and Lunkar, (2021) The actions taken by the
government stopped the people from visiting the place. It is necessary to maintain
social distancing and live a healthy life. The travelling facilities were stopped at the
time and this is a major reason people were unable to travel. In Italy, there were high
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restrictions so that the local people are able to live a safe and healthy life. The safety
measures taken by the government is one of the reason due to which there is
decline in Italian tourism. There is direct connection of airline industry with the
tourism industry and the restrictions caused problem’s and reduced the sales. The
accommodation facility was also not provided to the people at that time. All the
hotels were closed due to the scenario of Covid-19. This is another reason that there
were low sales observed in Italy in tourism sector. There was problem of lack of
facility due to which there was problem in the sector.
According to Coluccia and et.al., (2021) All the employees were scared due to low
sales seen in the company. They were unable to deal with the situation. The
employees were demotivated at that time as there was no tourist. The jobs of the
employees were not secured and this is the major reason of their demotivation. It is
important to maintain social security within the organisation so that all the employees
are free from disease and are able to live a healthy life. Some of the employees left
the place and went to their home town due the diseases. The food and beverage
sector also got impacted due to Covid-19. Italy tourism was famous for food and
beverages and the sector was facing issue at the time of pandemic. This caused
issues in the tourism sector and declined the sales. There was loss of jobs faced by
around 100.8 million individuals in the sector (Stolczyk, 2021). The local people have
started to come out of the homes but the major revenue was generated by the
tourists. The fear among the tourist stop them from visiting the place. They are not
ready to come out of the situation and start travelling. There is need of working
according to norms and steps taken by government. Now the situation of Covid-19 is
a major reason that has reduced the sales in tourism sector and impacted it
adversely.
What are the steps taken by Italian tourism after pandemic?
2.3 Conclusion of Literature Review
From this chapter, it is concluded that the Tourism of Italy is being adversely
impacted by the pandemic. There are various attractive places and determinants that
help the place to attract the tourist. The truism was major contributor to GDP in Italy.
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The customers were having happy experience, But the situation of pandemic
changes the overall scenario. The overall sector has faced major issues that reduced
the sales and number of tourist in Italy. All the reasons are being analyses to
understand the problems effectively. The strategies that are being taken Italy tourism
are also mentioned as they help to start the business again and attract various
tourists.
Chapter 3: Methodology 1000
3.1 Research Process
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3.2 Research Approach
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3.3 Research Strategy
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3.4 Research Methodology and Tools
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3.6 Sampling Approach
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3.6 Ethical Implications
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Chapter 4: Findings (Data presentation) 2500
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Chapter 5: Discussion (Data interpretation) 1000
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Chapter 6: Conclusion, Recommendations and
Implications for Further Research 1000
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References
Books and Journals
Atsız, O., Leoni, V. and Akova, O., 2020. Determinants of tourists' length of stay in
cultural destination: one-night vs longer stays. Journal of Hospitality and
Tourism Insights.
Beria, P. and Lunkar, V., 2021. Presence and mobility of the population during the
first wave of Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown in Italy. Sustainable Cities
and Society, 65, p.102616.
Collins-Kreiner, N. and Ram, Y., 2020. National tourism strategies during the Covid-
19 pandemic. Annals of Tourism Research.
Coluccia and et.al., 2021. Effects of COVID-19 on the Italian agri-food supply and
value chains. Food Control, 123, p.107839.
Del Chiappa, G., 2021. COVID-19 Pandemic and the Accommodation Sector in
Sardinia, Italy: Impacts and Response Actions. In Tourism Destination
Management in a Post-Pandemic Context. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Fernández and et.al., 2020. Determinants of tourism destination competitiveness in
the countries most visited by international tourists: Proposal of a synthetic
index. Tourism Management Perspectives, 33, p.100582.
Oztemel, E. and Gursev, S., 2020. Literature review of Industry 4.0 and related
technologies. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 31(1), pp.127-182.
Roccetti, M. and Casini, L., 2021, September. The role of inter-regional tourism in
the spread of COVID-19 in Italy during the 2020 summer: a confirmatory
study. In Proceedings of the Conference on Information Technology for
Social Good (pp. 1-6).
Stolczyk, K., 2021. How does the decrease in the number of tourists as a result of
Covid-19 affect the tourism sector in Italy?. Tutoring Gedanensis, 6(2).
Tsionas, M.G., 2020. COVID-19 and gradual adjustment in the tourism, hospitality,
and related industries. Tourism Economics, p.1354816620933039.
Online
Covid-19 impact: Italy's tourism sector estimated to shrink by 100 bn euros, 2020.
[Online] Available through: <
https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/covid-19-impact-
italy-s-tourism-sector-estimated-to-shrink-by-100-bn-euros-
120090800362_1.html>
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Appendices
Appendix 1. A blank copy of Questionnaire/Interview Script
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Appendix 2. A sample of completed Questionnaire/ A sample of
Interview Transcript
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Appendix 3. Data Analysis
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