Risks in the tourism sector from the increase in energy prices

Abstract

Real energy price behavior over time shows that levels fluctuate abruptly and regularly. By the end of the first quarter of 2022, the price of crude oil had doubled, that of coal had tripled, and that of natural gas had risen by more than five times compared to early in 2021. This present dissertation pertains to how the higher prices of energy commodities have affected the tourism industry, from the viewpoint of tourists as well as lodging businesses’ managers, examining the current energy crisis as experienced in 2022. Both a qualitative and a quantitative analysis was used to extract safe and well-rounded results. Two clusters of participants were needed. One regarding the tourists (individuals) and one in regard to the accommodation managers, with the total number of the former being 183 and 13 for the latter. Initially, after the collection of the questionnaires, a descriptive analysis was conducted, producing graphs and useful aggregates, which needed further analysis. The second step was the correlation analysis using a matrix of all usable data of each questionnaire, observing this which set of variables present high or moderate relationships. The last measure of analysis was the regressions. For both sets of data, three models were created and used. All models were found to be significant, with high R-square and low F-significance. The results show that no major financial risks were detected in regard to the revenues of the touristic businesses, though the individuals appeared to be affected financially due to the higher inflated prices. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that a minor 20% of participants were willing to sacrifice their vacation or trips in order to save money from. Despite the fact that both individuals and businesses were impacted by the energy crisis, resilience can be shown in the tourism industry's ability to rebound, especially from the financial effects of the inflationary energy crisis. Last, it is also necessary to note that sustainable energy is a crucial element that governments should start implementing.