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The emerging situation of pandemic due to COVID-19 has not only influenced the daily life but also the society and travel activities around the world thereby depriving tourists (especially who are already on the move) of facilities and even making them to look for desperate alternatives. Such situation in fact may draw a long-term impact on guest–host relationship while residents’ behavior reflects hostility toward the tourists. Such kind of interactions contributes toward tourists’ perception and experience about the destination and its services thereby affecting their level of acceptance and tolerance for tour and travel activities (Armenski et al., 2011). Moreover, the guest–host relationship has mostly been studied with perspective of and focus on residents/host and not enough on tourists (Skipper, 2009; Vargas-Sánchez et al., 2014). Keeping this in view, this paper aims to analyze the impact of pandemic situation on guest–host relationship and its future impact on travel intentions among the tourists in India.

The study undertakes the help of in-depth interviews and extracting themes to understand the guest–host relationship and the perspective of tourists in challenging times like COVID-19 and its impact on the relationship. The secondary sources have been adopted to retrieve the data related to current status of travel industry in India. In-depth interviews were conducted online to gather data for the qualitative analysis regarding the research. Further, the data has been analyzed for retrieving a dimensional approach to subject area.

The data from participant observation showed that the hosts displayed panic, mistrust and irresponsible behavior toward the guests, and this clearly indicates that the pandemic situation has a highly negative impact on the image of the community and the destination. This ultimately affects the guest–hosts relationships in the long term. Most of the tourists showed that they were okay with following the rules and respect local culture but were expecting support from local community during distress. It was found that there were two female tourists who were asked to vacate the accommodation, which can be considered as an inappropriate and extreme behavior. Thus, COVID-19 is not only causing a threat to the tourism presently but will have a prolonged influence on guest–host relationship as negative interaction or experiences are supposed to be frequently radiated by the tourists (de Albuquerque and McElroy, 2001).

There is no dearth of studies focusing on travel behavior dimensions, whereas the linkage of residents’ behavior toward it still requires much consideration and analyzing simultaneously. The study looks into the area of guest–host relationship and tries to explore it from the perspective and significance of tourist (guest) rather than the much read and researched resident (host) perception at the center. The findings of the study could be helpful in drawing the strategic framework for the industry to handle and sustain the guest–host relation so as to safeguard the future of tourism and sustain potential travel market reiterating the significance of tourists/guests and their perspective about the hosts, in developing and growing the tourism of a destination.

In the contemporary 21st century context, the issues of pollution, climate change and over tourism have emphasized that destination management organizations should focus on experiences and quality of life (QoL) of both locals and tourists. Concurrently, local community are actively seeking avenues for improving health and attaining inner peace, which has led to a notable inclination towards travelling to destinations rich with natural environment. This research paper aims to delve into the two intriguing dimensions of QoL, i.e. health and environment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the influence of the natural environment in urban tourism destinations on the QoL of local communities.

This research adopts a descriptive and exploratory approach, employing qualitative methods through semi-structured interviews with respondents. Thematic analysis, assisted by NVivo (12), was used to fulfil the aim of the study.

The findings of the study unveiled the themes, namely, aesthetic and recreational opportunities, elevated health and well-being, community cohesion, which highlight the influence of natural environment on QoL of community.

Since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing emphasis in research on the significance of the natural environment for individual well-being. Moreover, factors such as health, happiness and QoL contribute substantially to the overall ambiance of a destination.

Spiti Valley is a home to temples, untouched natural landscapes and is enriched in flora and fauna. This makes Spiti Valley an emerging ecotourism destination. The prime objective of this study is to analyse the development of ecotourism in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, particularly in the region of Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh. This study provides an opportunity to examine the level of awareness about ecotourism among tourists. In order to achieve the objectives of the study quantitative methodology has been adopted. The data were collected through a questionnaire. The findings of the study indicate towards the awareness among the tourists regarding the environment and how everyone is playing their parts to conserve and protect the environment. The study also depicts the economic benefits of ecotourism to the region and how it can generate employment for the local people directly or indirectly.