Masked Miles

This paper argues that California’s statewide shelter-in-place order (SIPO) effectively reduced COVID-19 cases and mortality during the early pandemic phase by curtailing social interactions. The authors use synthetic control models and state-level COVID-19 case and mortality data to estimate the public health effects of the SIPO, showing significant reductions in cases and deaths. This resource is crucial for understanding the potential health impacts of early, aggressive public health interventions in densely populated areas during a pandemic. The paper provides a comparative framework useful for examining COVID-19 spread in California versus Florida by showing how policy interventions affect transmission rates in states with different population densities and mobility patterns. Specifically, it supports evaluating the effectiveness of strict travel and social policies on outbreak control, which can directly inform the California versus Florida tourism and COVID-19 analysis in our research.

This paper examines how COVID-19 impacted long-distance (LD) travel behavior in the U.S., finding significant reductions in trips over 75 miles for both business and non-business purposes, particularly affecting older adults. The authors use data from a population-weighted survey conducted in 2021, along with negative binomial regression models to compare 2019 and 2020 travel patterns. This study is important for understanding the pandemic’s differential effects on travel behaviors across demographic groups and regions. By analyzing pandemic-driven changes in long-distance travel, the paper provides insights into travel trends relevant for comparing California and Florida, where LD travel restrictions likely influenced tourism flows and COVID-19 transmission differently.

This paper examines how socio-demographic and health factors influenced travel behaviors in the United States during the second phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, showing that variables like age, income, education, and anxiety levels significantly affected choices in public transport and shopping trips. The authors used binary logit models and data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey to analyze these factors. This study can increase understanding in how varied demographic groups adapted their travel behaviors due to pandemic conditions, and offers insights on the differential impacts of socio-economic and health factors on travel can inform the comparison of California and Florida in understanding how state-level factors might have influenced public mobility during the pandemic.

The article argues that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced tourist behavior and perceptions of travel risk, thus shaping their destination choices more than government-imposed travel restrictions. The resource uses Pearson’s correlation analysis, factor analysis, and survey data to illustrate the relationship between perceived risk of COVID-19, anxiety levels, and changes in tourist behavior during the pandemic. The resource is important because it highlights the psychological impact of Covid on tourists, offering deep insights into how perceived risks and anxiety influenced travel behavior and decision-making during a pivotal period in the tourism industry. The resource analyzes how COVID-19 risk perceptions and anxiety levels affected tourists’ destination choices, using surveys and statistical methods to highlight these relationships. It is essential for our research as it provides evidence in determining whether health concerns or government travel restrictions were more influential in shaping tourist behavior during the pandemic.

This source highlights how mobility was influenced by local policies, demographics, and economic factors through analyzing travel behavior shifts in the early COVID-19. The resource uses anonymized smartphone location data, demographic statistics, and regional policy variations to examine changes in travel patterns during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia examines the economic impacts of Covid on small businesses and employment, providing critical insights into how pandemic-related disruptions affected labor markets and business stability. This resource provides valuable data on the economic impacts of COVID-19 on small businesses, which can then be correlated with tourism trends and consumer behavior during the pandemic. Through analyzing businesses’ responses to varying levels of government restrictions alongside case severity, the paper supports an understanding of whether tourists were more influenced by health concerns or the challenges posed by restrictions in their destination choices.

The article argues that the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly altered tourists’ travel risk and management perceptions, leading to changes in their travel behaviors, preferences for safety and hygiene, and avoidance of crowded destinations. The resource uses a sample of 716 respondents, collected through social media platforms, and analyzes the data using the PLS-SEM tool to support its findings. The resource is important because it provides valuable insights into how the pandemic has fundamentally altered tourists’ travel risk and management perceptions, which is critical for assessing past and future tourism trends in relation to potential disruptions. The resource provides valuable insights into how COVID-19 outbreaks and government restrictions impacted tourist behavior, helping to illustrate the complex relationship between public health concerns and travel decisions. It offers empirical evidence from various studies and surveys that highlight the perceptions and attitudes of tourists, which can help contextualize the behavioral dynamics you are exploring in our thesis regarding the relationship between outbreak severity and destination choices.

This article argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased tourists’ awareness of responsible tourism practices, encouraging them to make choices that prioritize environmental sustainability and public health; The study uses 19 semi-structured interviews with tourists to assess how their behaviors align with responsible tourism principles, drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior to interpret these shifts; This study is significant as it highlights a change in tourism priorities towards sustainable and responsible practices, which could have lasting implications on the tourism industry and encourage sustainable travel norms post-pandemic; This resource supports our thesis by showing that travelers are now more inclined to make responsible decisions influenced by health and environmental concerns, providing concrete examples of how these changes manifest in their travel choices. It also strengthens the argument that health and safety have become critical factors in determining travel destinations, possibly outweighing convenience or traditional preferences in the post-COVID tourism landscape.

The article argues that tourists’ awareness of COVID-19 risks, such as health dangers and social-psychological concerns, needs to be improved in reducing travel intentions. At the same time, economic recovery and family relations are strong motivations for travel; The study gathers data from 432 respondents through Respondent-Driven and Snowball Sampling and uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the impact of risk knowledge on travel intentions and risk perception; This article is important because it provides empirical evidence on how tourists weigh COVID-19-related risks against their intentions to travel, offering insight into the balance between risk aversion and the desire for economic and social benefits through tourism; This study supports the thesis by highlighting that while knowledge of COVID-19 risks does influence risk perception, it does not significantly deter travel intentions. It provides a direct comparison between health risk knowledge and travelers’ resilience to pandemic risks, reinforcing the idea that motivations for travel may often outweigh concerns about government restrictions or perceived health risks.

The above article argues that residents’ support for tourism during the pandemic was primarily influenced by economic benefits and trust in the government, while perceived COVID-19 risks played a smaller role;  This study uses survey data from Georgia residents and is analyzed through social exchange theory to assess how different factors, such as perceived economic impact and trust in government, shape pro-tourism attitudes; I argue that this study highlights how economic motivations and trust in government can override health concerns, providing a perspective on public attitudes toward tourism even during a health crisis; This article offers insights into how local attitudes toward tourism may persist despite high health risks, which can inform comparisons in tourism behavior between regions like California and Florida, where economic factors and trust in local authorities may have influenced public and tourist behavior differently. It supports the idea that economic incentives may be stronger drivers than health concerns in certain regions, providing context for the human story behind tourism choices during COVID-19.

This study examines the dramatic shifts in travel behavior in the U.S. resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on vehicle travel, public transit use, and active travel modes like walking and cycling. The study looked at the different patterns of travel change, instead of only looking at the pure statistical increase and decrease.

This study is a good reference for travel patterns and their socio-economic drivers, which are critical to the tourism narratives in both California and Florida during the pandemic. By examining how work-from-home flexibility, school schedules, and demographic factors altered peak travel times in Los Angeles, this reference helps contextualize the broader shifts in mobility and daily life in response to COVID-19. Since our dataset only consists of travel distances, this reference could potentially fill the gap of when they are traveling and why some travel distances significantly decrease and others did not. The analysis of peak travel time shifts offers a basis for comparing California’s travel adaptations with Florida’s. For example, the emphasis on remote work’s impact on congestion aligns well with California’s progressive work-from-home policies, which may differ from Florida’s approach. This research thus helps illustrate how state-specific pandemic responses and demographic factors influence travel behavior, providing insights valuable for examining California’s and Florida’s unique tourism stories during and after COVID-19.

The study underscores how the pandemic led to a new wave of travel patterns emphasizing health safety, impacting rural communities with higher visitation rates. Additionally, it emphasizes the role of supportive policies at federal, state, and local levels to strengthen rural tourism’s resilience. This connection between travel and COVID-19 highlights how a global health crisis can reshape tourism demand in the city or rural areas, affecting everything from destination marketing and economic sustainability to social and environmental planning in communities. This context is essential for understanding tourism in California and Florida during the pandemic, as it explores how health-driven travel behavior shifts influenced rural and urban areas differently, providing insights into regional resilience and recovery strategies.

The study talks about how states like California and Florida, with diverse geographies and robust outdoor recreation options, shared similar survival conditions comparatively better during the pandemic due to their ability to offer socially distant activities. These states utilized domestic(within-state)tourism and implemented safety measures, with government support aiding businesses’ resilience. The discussion stresses the importance of embracing digital tools, sustainable practices, and local travel to build a resilient tourism industry that can withstand future shocks. This reference offers insights into the resilience and adaptability of the tourism sector, particularly in California and Florida. It highlights the pandemic’s influence on state-level tourism strategies and policies, with a focus on promoting domestic travel, sustainable practices, and governmental support. Thus offering information on the future policies that could be enacted in order to stimulate tourism in states like CA and FL.

The journal article “Statewide COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders and Population Mobility in the United States” focuses on how stay-at-home orders affected population mobility during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study looked at data from Google’s COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports and Apple’s mobility trends to assess changes in visits to various destinations, such as transit stations, retail and recreation facilities, workplaces, grocery stores, and pharmacies. The result indicates that states with stay-at-home orders experienced a greater reduction in mobility compared to those without such orders. The analysis of mobility patterns provides valuable insights into how Covid 19 outbreaks can possibly influence tourism in US. Tourism heavily influences mobility trends, and the observed reductions in visits to retail and transit locations likely reflect a decline in tourism activities. Understanding these mobility changes is crucial for assessing how tourism contributed to the spread of COVID-19 and the effectiveness of public health interventions in mitigating transmission.

The chapter “Adoption of Telecommuting and Changes in Travel Behavior in Southern California During the COVID-19 Pandemic” examines how the pandemic influenced telecommuting practices and travel behaviors in Southern California. The authors analyze data from a Fall 2020 online survey conducted among 4,045 residents in the Southern California Association of Governments region. This survey collected information on respondents’ travel behaviors before and during the pandemic, focusing on variables such as trip frequency by mode and purpose, weekly driving distance, and shopping activities. 

While the chapter primarily centers on telecommuting and general travel behavior, it provides an understanding of the relationship between COVID-19 outbreaks and tourism in the U.S. The findings illustrate significant reductions in travel, including trips for leisure and recreation, during the pandemic. This decline in non-essential travel suggests a corresponding decrease in tourism activities, which likely contributed to reduced transmission rates in tourist destinations. Also, the specific focus on Southern California assisted in examining closer to California’s travel patterns during the pandemic. 

The article “The Shifting Impact and Response to COVID-19 in Florida” by Scott A. Rivkees examines the state’s evolving strategies and outcomes during the pandemic. It highlights distinct phases: the pre-Delta variant phase (March 2020 to July 2021) and the Delta variant and beyond phase (beginning July 2021). The study attributes differences in mortality rates between these phases to factors such as adherence to public health measures, etc. While the article does not directly address the relationship between COVID-19 outbreaks and tourism in the U.S., it serves to explain how policy decisions and public health measures influenced the spread of the virus in a state heavily reliant on tourism. Florida’s experience underscores the importance of policy and strategy in managing COVID-19, especially in regions with significant tourist activity.

The author examines the impact of COVID-19 on countries that were heavily reliant on tourism, like Jamaica, focusing on the decline in the countries’ tourism revenue and their broader economic consequences. His analysis demonstrates how these tourism-dependent countries suffered disproportionately compared to other countries due the travel restrictions placed upon the rise of COVID-19 as well as the decreased demand for international travel. This source is relevant to our research because the resources uses cross-country analysis data showing tourism GDP contribution and examines economic outcomes, coming to the conclusion that tourism activity declined due to restrictions and health concerns. Additionally, it discusses the broader economic impacts of the tourism downturn, which provides a framework for our comparison. 

Ivanov and Webster also explore the many effects of COVID-19 on the tourism industry, focusing particularly on disruptions on global supply chains, air travel, and hospitality. They are that the pandemic revealed weaknesses and dependencies in the travel industry, specifically their dependence on inter-industry connections and global movement. Additionally, the article provides us a framework to understand how these crises affected interconnected industries as well as long term consequences and shifts in consumer behavior and industry practices. Their discussion on changes in consumer behavior and vulnerabilities in the industry provide a basis for analyzing how CA and FL may have adapted differently based on their tourism profiles and state responses. It can also explore whether the differences led to long term shifts.

Chen and Wang analyzed how COVID-19 affected destinations’ resilience and how they responded to the pandemic. They specifically highlight the strategies deployed that were used to mitigate the impact of their recovery as well as strategies to recover from it quickly. They focus on the crisis management frameworks that promote resilience, including financial support and community management. They provide concrete examples on how destinations responded to the pandemic. We can utilize this article to contextualize how US cities and states like CA approached the pandemic and had different measures in place. We can see how they approached public health and economic incentives differently as well.

This report explores how COVID-19 had spread within the U.S., focusing on Connecticut’s outbreak as a case study. Key findings indicate that COVID-19 spread more through domestic than international travel, with genomic sequencing from early cases showing connections to outbreaks in Washington state, not overseas. The report analyzes air travel data and cases to show that, by March 2020, domestic travel posed a greater risk for introducing COVID-19 to Connecticut than international sources, despite federal travel restrictions. The report argues the need for local surveillance cooperation between states to contain domestic transmission and prevent interstate spread. This report gives great insight into the spread of COVID through travel within the country.

The report delves into how the pandemic caused a significant decline in tourism. It provides an overview of how specifically the pandemic affected tourism and the economy as a whole. It then goes on to show the legislative responses and how they support recovery. Levin uses plenty of statistics to back up their report such as employment figures, visitor statistics, economic metrics. The report ends with recovery strategies and how congress will monitor the situation. Overall, report provides great insight into the pandemic’s influence on national travel with economic consequences. 

The article, titled, “How California, Florida COVID Policies Diverged”, goes into the contrasting responses to the pandemic from California and Florida. It focuses particularly on Governors Gavin Newson and Ron DeSantis and their approaches to keep cases down. It discusses how different factors affect public health. It argues that California and Florida approaches to covid reflect their deep ideological and political differences. The article uses statistical data, expert opinions, and policy comparisons to support its analysis. Experts in the article provide insight into the complex differences between the policies of both states. Overall, the article does a great job at analyzing how different the two popular tourist states reacted to COVID.