The Fallout of the Pandemic: An Investigation of Oman Tourist Destination Brand Equity

Abstract

Oman is in the process of diversifying its economy by identifying other sectors to lessen dependency on petroleum products. Many such sectors are identified as tourism, manufacturing, fisheries, mining, transportation, and logistics. Coronavirus pandemic has a significant impact on the global economy. As countries around the globe begin to emerge from the pandemic, what will be the new normal for tourism? This new normal is already beginning to affect tourism sector in Sultanate of Oman. The present study explores how the fallout of the pandemic will affect destination brand equity from a tourist perspective. However, most of the previous studies that deal with the similar issues, do not include effective ways to develop Oman tourism destination as a brand. The results reveal that destination Oman significantly satisfies all dimensions of brand equity, i.e., brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association, and brand loyalty. The perceived risk dimension is also extracted in the study to recognize the impact of pandemic crises.