Editors: Pedro Andrade, University of Minho, Portugal and Moisés de Lemos Martins, University of Minho, Portugal
Introduction
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Portugal was chosen as the world’s best tourism destination for 3 consecutive years (2017-2019), and Lisbon was designated as the Best City Destination and City Break at the World Travel Awards event (2020), besides conquering the title of Lisbon Green Capital 2020 (2020). Furthermore, Braga won recently a contest for its designation as a Unesco Creative City of Media Arts (Braga,2020).
After the rising of Coronavirus, everything changed. As soon as in the first months of the pandemic, global lost revenue was estimated at € 273 billion. In particular, risks in the tourism activities provoked a very serious crisis in the sector: 300 million losses mean a 56% drop in comparison with the same period of 1999 (World Tourism Organization-UNWTO, 2020). At the beginning of the 2020 summer high tourism season (middle of July), a poll showed major tendencies on preferred tourism destinations in the world, by Germans, Italians, French and Spanish tourists, underlining some major changes after the pandemic emergence (Pollet,2020).
Objective
To cope with such a dramatic situation, this book, among other purposes, aims to study the emergent social risk ‘Covid-19’, in particular in what concerns urban tourism, and its economic, political and cultural causes and impacts. This may contribute to a sustainable and healthier urban life, namely to help different social actors to cope with risks within travelling localities: local citizens, tourists, marginalities (pensioners, disabled people and migrants), etc.
To achieve such a goal, the book intends to gather:
– Theoretical essays, in order to analyze the economic, ecological, sociological, demographic, political, cultural and discursive dimensions of tourism activities, under the new Covid-19 pandemic’s conjuncture.
– Empirical case studies on tourism structural processes and travelling daily life within urban risks’ contexts.
On both of these directions, among other ideas, authors are invited to contribute to the proposition of a practical global/local solidarity and business model, for information and knowledge dissemination about and against the pandemic causes and impact of the pandemic on touristic activities. E.g. to include suggestions, to be used by social actors who are travelling or receiving travellers (tourists, migrants, local citizens), to better cope with Covid-19. This may augment their reciprocal social solidarity, inclusive practices, citizenship education and lifelong learning opportunities, within a safe, resilient and sustainable city. Such recommendations may also inspire more specific socioeconomic stakeholders connected with the tourism sector, such as medium/small corporations (travel agencies), institutions (universities, museums), ONGs, associations and local communities, to develop and diffuse these or other anti-pandemic instruments and strategies.
Target Audience
This book is targeted to social stakeholders connected, directly or indirectly, with tourism activities and studies, within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This includes both state regulators/regulations (tourism and public health policies and politics, vaccination certificates, etc.), and civil society actors, such as professionals within tourism industries and services, in the areas of travelling, hotels, restoration, leisure and culture. This may help the creation of jobs and the development of good practices adapted to the pandemic threat, such as the enhancement of information and knowledge sharing and transfer, among universities, innovating industries (spin-offs, startups), tourism agencies, museums, etc.
On the research side, teachers, students and other social agents within scientific communities, may establish connections with the above-mentioned stakeholders, by developing reflections, technologies and ideas to cope with social and travelling risks and needs under the pandemic.
In particular, the proposed book intends to develop a scientific daily research ethos within the academy, which may disseminate content among external users, who hopefully may also become co-authors of knowledge produced collectively in this way.
Recommended Topics
Some perspectives and topics to be considered by authors are, but are not limited to, the following issues:
1. Possible theories for discussing travel and tourism within the contemporary violent/virulent social fabric:
Urban mobilities and tourism (John Urry); Risk society (Ulrich Beck)
Postcolonial studies (Homi Bhabha); Network society (Manuel Castells), etc.
2. Methodology suggestions for studying urban tourism in the age of Covid-19:
Interviews; surveys; direct observations via photos and video; content and discourse analysis; new media and digital methods; new apps and guides for urban and touristic circulation.
3. Case studies about the impact of Covid-19 on the urban fabric and tourism activities:
Travelling across local and global pandemic realities
The role of socio-economic stakeholders on the new ‘viral economy/viral ecology’ of tourism
The coverage of the Corona viral effects on tourism, by mass media and social media
The impact of the pandemic on culture and the arts, whether in the countries visited or in the countries where tourists originate
4. Viral wars: debates for the next decade:
The new vaccines’ industries and services for citizens and tourists
The transformations of lifestyles and of travel by the virus
Debates on citizenship and public opinion about travelling under the pandemic
Political struggles for/against vaccination and the use of masks across the urban circulation
Migrations and intercultural dialogues under the virus threat
5. The new vocabulary/glossary of the pandemic, articulated with travel:
‘Covid-19’ (meaning precisely the illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 infection; ‘SARS-CoV-2’ (i.e., the new coronavirus detected in China at the end of 2019, and an acronym of ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome – coronavirus 2’; ‘confinement/deconfinement’; ‘social remobility’, ‘mobile locative culture/tourism’, ‘communicative tourism’; ‘tourism 3.0’; ‘viral tourism’, etc.
6. The day after Covid-19 (since 2020):
The phenomenon of ‘viral risk tourism’
The ‘viral society’ emerging paradigm
7. Practical measures to fight the social impact of Coronavirus:
Novel travelling economic and ecological solutions
New political conscience and actions on urban confinement and deconfinement
Unprecedented cultural and discursive means, methods and media about travelling
Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before 6 November, 2021, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter, through this link. Authors will be notified by November 8, 2021, about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines.
Full chapters are expected to be submitted by February 22, 2022, and all interested authors must consult the guidelines for manuscript submissions. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.
Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Urban Tourism, Viral Society, and the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-blind peer review editorial process.
All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery® online submission manager.
Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), an international academic publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. IGI Global specializes in publishing reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, business and management, information science and technology, engineering, public administration, library and information science, media and communication studies, and environmental science. More information regarding the publisher, here. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2022.
Important Dates:
October 25, 2021: Proposal Submission Deadline
November 8, 2021: Notification of Acceptance
February 22, 2022: Full Chapter Submission
April 22, 2022: Review Results Returned
June 3, 2022: Final Acceptance Notification
Jun 17, 2022: Final Chapter Submission
Contacts:
Pedro Andrade
University of Minho
pjoandrade@gmail.com
Moisés de Lemos Martins
University of Minho
moisesm@ics.uminho.pt
Classifications
Social Sciences and Humanities; Media and Communications
More information, here.