From impact to action: Enhancing international tourism resilience through counterfactual explanations


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Date

2026-06

Publication Type

Journal Article

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yes

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Abstract

COVID-19, as an unexpected global shock, had a profound impact on international tourism and created a unique testing ground for empirical research on external shocks. However, existing studies lack a systematic analysis of the heterogeneous impact of COVID-19 on tourism recovery patterns across countries, providing limited insights into the actionable strategies to enhance recovery. This study quantitatively assesses the impact of COVID-19 on international tourism demand across 53 countries and provides actionable advice for counterfactual scenarios through a three-stage analytical framework. The first stage revealed that resilience varies considerably between countries, with the recovery trajectories falling into three distinct categories: V-, U-, and W-shaped patterns. Conceptualizing resilience as a process involving the resistance, adaptation, and recovery phases, the second stage employs econometric modeling within the framework of regional economic resilience. It identifies key factors significantly influencing the recovery stage. Finally, the third stage employs an interpretable machine learning method, counterfactual explanations, to assess how changes in the important factors might improve recovery outcomes. These analyses provide a comprehensive, data-driven perspective for examining the heterogeneity and mechanisms of international tourism resilience across countries in the aftermath of COVID-19.

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published

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Volume

114

Pages / Article No.

105356

Publisher

Elsevier

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Subject

Resilience; Counterfactual explanations; International tourism; Covid-19; Tourism demand

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