The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Tourism Economy

Abstract

This chapter seeks to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the Turkish tourism economy. Towards this end, first of all, tourist arrivals and tourism income of Turkey were compared between pre-pandemic and within the pandemic period. Afterwards, to investigate whether COVID-19 leads to a decrease in stock prices of tourism firms, the return data of 11 firms listed in the Borsa Istanbul restaurants and hotels subsector for 10 months were examined by panel data methods. According to comparison of tourist arrivals and tourism income to the previous year, there was a vital decrease as 69% and 65% respectively in 2020. Moreover, coverage rate of foreign trade deficit of tourism income in Turkey decreased almost 80% in 2020. Overall, results of pooled OLS regression analysis revealed that COVID-19 cases and COVID-19-related deaths were decreasing monthly stock price returns. Based on these findings, it is recommended to policymakers to find better policies for a better tourism economy.