Global Journal of Management and Business Research, F: Real Estate, Event and Tourism Management, Volume 22 Issue 3

So, the main argument of the present literature review has been developed in the following sections. The contribution of tourism and hospitality in the global economy as well as in the world’s GDP is very much significant (Naradda Gamage, Hewa Kuruppuge, & Haq, 2017). Basically, tourism is the temporary short- term movement of people to destination outside the place where they normally live and work. On the other hand, this tourism is mostly depending on the availability of the accommodation at the destination. This accommodation which is broadly known as hospitality is a core of the tourism industry, and plays a significant role in the development of this industry (Li, Naradda Gamage, Nedelea, & Haq, 2017). Eventually, the tourism and hospitality sector is a labor-intensive industry and creating the employment opportunity around the world. So we can say that tourism and hospitality sector belongs to the service sector of the economy and also provides benefits and creating opportunities for the people of around the world (Haq, Alotaish, Naradda Gamage, & Otamurodov, 2014; Naradda Gamage et al., 2017). Particularly, main features of tourism and hospitality fall within specific attributes of a service product such as inseparability, heterogeneity, intangibility, and perish ability (Løke, Kovács, & Bacsi, 2018; Ventura-Dias, 2011). In the global economy, the contribution of tourism and hospitality sector is huge. So the betterment of this particular industry may positively influence economic growth. Numerous researchers have considered the considerable task of the tourism and hospitality industry in economic development (Gamage, Illangarathne, Kumudumali, & Nedelia, 2020). On the top of that, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) considered tourism and hospitality sector is one of the driving forces for economic development as this sector is creating the highest foreign exchange, employment opportunities, and revenue for a country (Steiner, 2006). The current COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the economic development of almost all countries in the world which resulted in the biggest financial crisis in history. Due to the spread of COVID-19 pandemic all over the world, more advanced economies like the USA, UK, Japan, and Europe are also experiencing the downfall of their economies. On this note, UNWTO forecasts that trade activities may drop by 32 percent in the year of 2020. This poor economic performance is attributed to low demand, supply chain disturbances, travel restrictions, and the lockdown strategy, which are all preventative measures to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading further. Moreover, with the loss of economic activities The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which will increase global unemployment between 5.3 million to 24.7 million (Ozili & Arun, 2020). Among the other sector the tourism and hospitality sector is more likely to get influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Bank report showed that the global tourism sector accounts for more than 10 percent of the global GDP and 30 percent of the worlds’ export services (Aguas et al., 2020). As many governments impose travel restrictions, travel bans, shutting down airports, and mass passenger cancellations, it is estimated that the tourism and hospitality industry will cost with a loss of over US$ 820 billion in revenue globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Ozili & Arun, 2020). Assessment of the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Tourism and Hospitality Sector: Evidence from the South Asian Countries 4 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXII Issue III Version I Year 2022 ( ) F © 2022 Global Journals China was the first country around the world who have affected by the sudden outbreak of corona virus pandemic. Due to travel bans around the China, tourists have to cancel travel plans and hotel bookings, which has eventually affected the job and income security of tourism and hospitality related employees (Hao, Xiao, & Chon, 2020). Moreover, research found that COVID-19 pandemic significantly affects the Chinese tourism and hospitality industry. Basically, China earns huge profits with this particular industry but this current pandemic situation resulted in postponing most tourist visits to China which creates economic loss for China. Reports showed that foreign exchange earnings from foreign tourism in China were about $127.3 billion. This figure has got lowered as no individuals are traveling to China in this present time (Hoque, Shikha, Hasanat, Arif, & Hamid, 2020). Knight et al. (2020) conducted a study in Hubei Province of China and found that tourism and hospitality businesses throughout Hubei Province faced high levels of economic loss due to COVID-19outbreak, and majority respondents expressed the concerns of bankruptcy by May or June 2020. Moreover, they also estimated that international tours will not resume in the next 2 years. They also mention that their travel agency has not resumed work. Likewise Hafsa (2020) conducted a study on the impacts of COVID-19 on tourism and hospitality industry in Bangladesh. Here the researcher showed that tourism and hospitality sector has an enormous contribution to the Bangladeshi economy. But due to the current pandemic situation the government imposed lockdown, and people have to maintain social distancing. For this reason, both domestic tourists and international tourists didn’t travel around the country. As travel and tourism activities are remain closed, most of the company related to tourism, hospitality and travel are facing economic loss. Already small hotels, motels, restaurants, and travel agencies closed their businesses. As a result, thousands of people working in tourism and hospitality industry have started to become jobless. Similarly, Deb and Nafi (2020) conducted a study on the “Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Tourism: Perceptions from Bangladesh”. They stated that the COVID-19 outbreak has significantly affected