PANDEMIC CRISIS AS A CATALYST OF DIGITALIZATION OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
Authors: Havryliuk Oleg 
Published: June 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic is not only the most serious global health crisis since the 1918 Great Influenza (Spanish flu), but is set to become one of the most economically costly pandemics in recent history. The experience with past epidemics provides some insights into various channels through which economic costs could arise, both in the short as well as longer term. At the same time, Covid-19 differs from previous episodes in several important ways. Notably, the globally synchronised lockdowns and trauma of financial markets reinforce one another into an unprecedented economic sudden stop. For these reasons, the Covid-19 global recession is unique. However, past epidemics can shed light on transmission channels to the economy, especially when stringent containment policies are not in place.

The global pandemic has generated new problems and challenges related to further global and national socio-economic development, improvement of methods and tools of fundamentally high-quality business operation, interaction with customers in all areas of production and service. Modern global trends include efforts to overcome its consequences, as well as awareness of the new paradigm of consumer mentality. The aim of this study is to find out how far the digitization has already changed the tourism industry and what is still going to change in order to find potential benefits of digitization in the tourism industry. The results of the structural equation model approach show six main drivers (sales increase, classic booking, sharing economy, personalized offers, social media and customer reviews) that have a significant impact on the potential of digitization in the tourism industry.

The dynamics of globalization and especially the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic have generated stagnation and crisis in tourism, have raised new issues and challenges related to methods and tools of fundamentally high-quality business, customer interaction and service delivery, creation of "smart" technologies . Today’s global trends include the digitalization of all aspects of life, the rapid growth of e-commerce. Large firms and brands, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, have launched new strategies of interaction with consumers, which are constantly being modified, especially depending on socio-economic stability and market fluctuations.

The article examines the latest trends, strategies, problems and consequences of digitalization of the tourism business in the context of the crisis caused by the global pandemic, the phenomenon of "economy of impressions", targeted approach to needs and new opportunities for effective relationships with consumers. The newest directions of digitalization, modification of strategies and their prospects depending on social and economic stability and moods of consumers, in particular, in the context of the current epidemic of a coronavirus are analyzed. It is shown that the deterioration of the situation and the uncertainty of the further course of events naturally lead to the transformation / ratio of strategies towards online.