‘How Are We Surviving the Pandemic, COVID-19?’: Perspectives from Hospitality Industry Workers in Australia

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disastrous and has affected the hospitality industry worldwide, and the people working in the sector were impacted immensely. The purpose of this study is to understand the viewpoints of hospitality workers in Australia on how lockdowns have impacted professional and personal well-being. The case study methodology is adopted for this study. Viewpoints from Australian hospitality workers were collected through semi-structured interviews. With the pandemic taking surprising turns with the rise of new infections and in turn new pandemic waves, the industry is facing a constant lurking fear of lockdowns. Changing variants of COVID-19 creates a profound effect on the psychological and personal well-being of the people employed in the hospitality sector. This chapter would reflect upon the viewpoints of hospitality workers in Australia after two years of the COVID-19 crisis. A ‘real-time’ assessment is required to understand the vulnerability of hospitality industry workers in a developed country.

Citation

Mehta, R., Singh, A.M., Hussain, S., Gavinolla, M.R. and Mohanty, P. (2022), "‘How Are We Surviving the Pandemic, COVID-19?’: Perspectives from Hospitality Industry Workers in Australia", Mohanty, P., Sharma, A., Kennell, J. and Hassan, A. (Ed.) The Emerald Handbook of Destination Recovery in Tourism and Hospitality, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 285-298. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-073-320221017