Abstract:
In its wake, COVID-19 had caused communities and countries a lot than expected. Most sectors of countries across the globe were affected but one of the most hit sectors was the tourism industry. Movement from place to place was restricted which came as a results of closure of borders, social distancing and other restriction instituted as part of measures to manage the spread of the disease. Prior studies have mostly considered the economic effects of the pandemic on the country; others have also socio economic effects of the pandemic on tourism industry, focusing on one region. This study looks at the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry focusing on Community livelihood of people in tourist destinations. Using a mixed method approach, the study focused on two communities, Abono and Boabeng-Fiema in the Bosomtwe district of Ashanti Region and Nkoranza-North of the Bono-East Region respectively. Data was collected using Focus Group Discussions, Key informant interview and survey questionnaire and analysed with Google form, excel and SPSS. Result from the study showed that, tourism in these communities have both negative and positive impact on their livelihood. In addition, business closure, decline in social and tourism activities were some of the effects the pandemic had on the community livelihood of both study areas. The study concludes the impacts on community livelihood of the pandemic is mainly due to direct link to tourism of both communities. Business diversity, focus on domestic tourism and local talents were amongst the recommended measures suggested to keep and make the tourist destinations and the tourism industry at large more resilient to future shocks and to enable the people of the communities build a better livelihood
