By Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu
Posted on July 8, 2020
The University of South Carolina’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management is hosting a free online forum to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on travel and tourism. The forum will feature South Carolina hospitality and tourism management professor Simon Hudson, an internationally recognized tourism expert whose latest book, COVID-19 and Travel: Impacts, Responses and Outcomes, was published June 30.
The Tourism Forum: COVID-19 and Travel
Monday, July 27 at 10 a.m.
Registration is required for this free event.
Register here: https://bit.ly/HRSMTourismForum
Hudson's research focuses on tourism as a driver of economic development. The new book covers a number of important topics including why the pandemic and travel were inextricably linked, how the different sectors of the industry reacted to the crisis, leadership and communication strategies employed by the industry during the crisis, and the social, economic and environmental impacts of the pandemic as they relate to travel.
Hudson will discuss those topics and others with forum host Robin DiPietro, professor and director of the University of South Carolina’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management.
The event will include relatable, real-life examples that illustrate Hudson’s research, such as the cruise industry suddenly turning from the golden child of the tourism sector to a sober symbol of the deadly disease; the meltdown of ski resorts around the world in one weekend; and how Richard Branson coped with what he considers to be his greatest challenge yet. Hudson will also delve into ‘best practices’ case studies from New Zealand, Vietnam and Canada and make educated predictions for the future of travel after COVID-19, a future driven by technology.
More information about the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management is available here.