Developing Event Tourism in Zimbabwe: Opportunities and Challenges Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt by several industries, including the events sector, an important sub-sector of the tourism industry. In response to the devastating pandemic, governments instituted lockdown measures to control and prevent the further spread of the pandemic. These measures presented both opportunities and challenges to the events tourism industry. The current study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted a selected developing country. It also evaluates the recovery strategies adopted to minimise the impact of the pandemic by examining different tourism events hosted in Zimbabwe. To achieve this, a review of related literature examining the impacts of COVID-19 on tourism events, response strategies to the impact of the pandemic on tourism events and sustainable management of events is undertaken. The current study highlights the value of stakeholder collaboration in event tourism development. In addition, recovery strategies can be proposed through stakeholder engagement, resulting in sustainable events that can grow tourism.

Keywords

• event tourism
• covid-19 pandemic
• sustainability
• stakeholder theory
• zimbabwe