Resilient destination development in the wake of COVID-19

The outbreak of Covid-19 in Spring 2020 has thrown the tourism industry into an acute crisis. All over the world, destinations went from overtourism to almost no tourism at all. During the pandemic, the mobility of national tourists in Sweden has moved away from urban destinations to smaller cities and rural destinations like national parks. Urban destinations have become associated with fear and risk of getting infected and thus less attractive to visit. People are still travelling but the flow of visitors have changed, creating new challenges for organisations and destinations not prepared for the increase in visitors. The overarching problem addressed in this research is 1) how resilience in destinations can be developed and supported during and after Covid-19. The knowledge produced will help both destinations to develop resistance to unpredictable changes and crises in the future, but also to bounce back when the industry reignites. This project answers the following questions:
What are the main challenges associated with changed travel flows in Swedish destinations?
How have urban and rural destinations been affected by these challenges?
What solutions and good practices have been developed in order to address these challenges?