Response, resilience and recovery in regional tourism destinations: Lessons from a regional tourism destination during COVID-19

COVID-19 has tested the resilience of tourism destinations, businesses and tourists battling a complex, long-term crisis that created ongoing uncertainty and continued to impact travel restrictions and mobilities. For international tourism destinations in particular, the loss of the international market necessitated a shift to the domestic market. This chapter discusses how understanding changes in market demand during a crisis event can assist in developing targeted, short-term marketing responses tailored to accessible markets. The research examined the changes and trends in the profile of domestic visitors to Cairns, Australia before (n = 440) and during (n = 692) the global pandemic. Chi-square analyses identified significant differences across socio-demographic, motivational and behavioural characteristics. A two-step cluster analysis identified two groups of pandemic visitors – big-ticket icon seekers and repeat leisure lifestylers – who differed in terms of their motivations, spend, previous visits and experiences sought. This chapter highlights the managerial implications for tourism-dependent destinations responding to long-term crises by developing effective and targeted short-term marketing. Identifying changes in visitor markets can be achieved using a methodological approach that includes regional data collection and segmentation.