NOTICES
Seasons Greetings
May 2021 be a healthy and happy year for all!
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Vol 10(1) is open for peer reviewing of submissions All article(s) should be submitted to our Editorial Office as e-mail attachment to africajournals@hotmail.com
We will consider original and significant contributions that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Articles submitted must not have been previously published or be under consideration elsewhere. It is recommended that authors provide their once-off ORCID iD in each of their submission details. This is however not mandatory. Authors must provide full contact details including email and institutional addresses.
Thank you to all the reviewers who always respond very positively. The effort is much appreciated. If a reviewer is battling to review an article or the revisions for whatever reason please advise us to extend your review period or request another reviewer.
Call for Papers: Focussed Issue 2021
The Impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic on Tourism
The COVID-19 Coronavirus has devastating impacts on almost every aspect of life globally. The tourism sector in particular has experienced devastating impacts given that in most of the world global (and domestic) travel has come to a halt with travel bans, shutdowns, lockdowns and various other forms of travel restrictions. Tourism travel has almost come to a standstill globally with cancellation of flights and tourism (Hoque et al., 2020). Chinazzi et al. (2020) and Hoque et al. (2020) assert that travel restrictions were imposed and are being enforced globally primarily to curb and stop the spread of the virus. These restrictions have triggered a global economic crisis impacting on all sectors. Several tourism events and activities have also been cancelled or postponed/ suspended including major sports and cultural tourism events as well as major exhibitions and conferences. Additionally, while all tourism sub-sectors have been impacted by the virus some have had more media attention than others such as cruise tourism because of the cases of COVID-19 that led to tourists being stranded on cruise-liners and sport tourism which has had international events being cancelled or postponed.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (WTO, 2020) states that that outbreak of COVID-19 presents the tourism sector with a major and evolving challenge that will require international leadership for tourism to be included as a priority in future recovery efforts. The tourism industry is associated with several key sectors in society including the transport (aviation, cruise ships as well as road and rail); hospitality and accommodation; culture, sport and recreation, etc. The World Economic Forum (WEF, 2020) noted that the tourism industry currently accounts for 10% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The industry therefore has major impacts on growth, employment and livelihoods. The World Travel and Tourism Council (cited in WEF, 2020) predicts that up to 50 million jobs associated with the travel and tourism sector are at risk globally which accounts of a reduction of 12-14% of jobs. Several island economies and tourism destinations rely almost exclusively on the tourism sector for job creation and economic growth (Dinarto et al., 2020). Additionally, tourism and recreational travel are linked to several socio-psychological and educational benefits. WTO (2020) predicts that the COVID-19 pandemic will result in international tourism arrivals falling by 20-30%. These predictions are likely to worsen if prolonged lockdowns and travel restrictions persist. Thus, the COVID-19 impacts are wide ranging and include socio-economic, political, environmental and health related effects. Additionally, a range of stakeholders are affected such as tourists/ travellers (including how the pandemic will influence future travel plans), supply and demand side tourism businesses, tourism agencies and destination managers, tourist public sector/ government departments, etc.
Tourism is directly and indirectly impacted on by major global events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the USA, the 2008 economic recession and other health outbreaks such as the 2002-2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) noted by Strielkowski (2020). Thus, the tourism sector it is not unfamiliar with responding to global upheavals and catastrophes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic poses challenges and impacts not experienced previously with devastating impacts on the tourism and related sectors. This Special Issue adopts a multi-disciplinary and inter-sectorial stance to examine the range of tourism-related impacts and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the African context.
Possible Areas for Consideration
Potential contributors may consider submitting abstracts for consideration in the Special Issue relation to the following issues/ areas;
- Impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism sector (economic, social, environmental, geo-political, health, etc.), including consideration of differential impacts such as which regions are likely to be the most affected
- Specific tourism sub-sector (for example, cruise tourism, nature-based tourism, sport tourism, cultural tourism, island tourism, etc.) experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic and what are the responses to this crisis
- Related sector-specific (for example, accommodation, transport, hospitality/ restaurant, etc.) impacts and responses in relation to links with tourism
- Global, country-level and/ or destination specific case studies that examine trends and experiences (including comparative analyses)
- Socio-psychological well-being as well as perceptions and experiences of tourists/ travelers
- The phenomenon of ‘trapped tourists’
- Tourism sector employee well-being and impacts
- Closure of tourist destinations, sites, facilities, etc.
- Marketing and branding considerations
- Governance issues including international and intersectoral dialogue as well as organisational, country and sector specific responses
- Policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and areas of consideration for future policy formulation
- Critical assessment of current interventions/ responses to limit/ reduce the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism sector
- Types of new tourism experiences that are emerging
- Roles and responsibilities of travelers and the tourism sector in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and future practices
- Recovery efforts for the tourism sector, including recommendations
- How is the COVID-19 pandemic likely to change the tourism sector? What innovations and interventions are emerging?
Submitted articles must not have been previously published or currently submitted for publication elsewhere. As an author, you are responsible for understanding and adhering to our submission procedures.
Additional author guidelines and information available on our website (www.ajhtl.com).
Interested Contributors
Interested contributors are encouraged to submit their abstracts to the AJHTL guest editor of this special edition, Prof. Urmilla Bob (bobu@ukzn.ac.za). The SUBJECT line of the email should read as: COVID-19 Tourism Abstract by... (Name of the corresponding author).
Important Dates
Deadline of Abstract Submission: 13 January 2021
Deadline of Full Manuscript Submission: 13 January 2021
Final Decisions: 05 February 2021
Publication Date: February 2021
Abstracts should include:
- A succinct title
- A brief abstract (± 350 words) which includes at least the focus of the study, the importance of the study/ contribution to knowledge, the methodological approach adopted and key findings/ aspects to be covered
- Author/s name/s
- Author/s institutional affiliation
- Contact details
Editorial Team:
Prof. Tembi Tichaawa (Editor-in-Chief - AJHTL) (UJ)
Special Issue Editors: Prof. Urmilla Bob (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and Prof. Kamilla Swart (Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar)
References
Chinazzi, M., Davis, J.T., Ajelli, M., Gioannini, C., Litvinova, M., Merler, S., y Piontti, A.P., Mu, K., Rossi, L., Sun, K. and Viboud, C., 2020. The effect of travel restrictions on the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Science. 10.1126/science.aba9757.
Dinarto, D., Wanto, A. and Sebastian, L.C., 2020. Global Health Security–COVID-19: Impact on Bintan’s Tourism Sector. RSIS Commentaries, 033-20.
Hoque, A., Shikha, F.A., Hasanat, M.W., Arif, I. and Hamid, A.B.A., 2020. The Effect of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Tourism Industry in China. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 3(1): 1-7.
Strielkowski, W., 2020. COVID-19 recovery strategy for tourism industry. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19039.82086.
WEF, 2020. This is how coronavirus could affect the travel and tourism industry, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/world-travel-coronavirus-covid19-jobs-pandemic-tourism-aviation/.
WTO, 2020. COVID-19: Putting people first – Tourism and COVID-19, https://www.unwto.org/tourism-covid-19.
soliciting papers in the domains of
We are proudly making peer reviewed research research available online to a global community of practice.
AJHTL The journal incorporates all types of empirical and conceptual research in issue relevant to
Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure with an African focus . We invite authors from all corners of the globe to submit articles to us. All submissions must be well researched, informed and show good familiarity with the relevant current extant literature, concepts and also various theoretical perspectives in the areas of the study. Papers are solicited from, but not only limited to the related fields of Marketing, Strategic Management, Communication Science, Business Ethics, Corporate Governance, Stakeholder Management, Operations Management, Entrepreneurship, Nutrition, Service Quality, Sustainability and Globalization BUT these MUST relate in some way or other, to Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure in Africa and/or be generic but also have relevance for Africa.
AJHTL The journal incorporates all types of empirical and conceptual research in issue relevant to
Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure with an African focus . We invite authors from all corners of the globe to submit articles to us. All submissions must be well researched, informed and show good familiarity with the relevant current extant literature, concepts and also various theoretical perspectives in the areas of the study. Papers are solicited from, but not only limited to the related fields of Marketing, Strategic Management, Communication Science, Business Ethics, Corporate Governance, Stakeholder Management, Operations Management, Entrepreneurship, Nutrition, Service Quality, Sustainability and Globalization BUT these MUST relate in some way or other, to Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure in Africa and/or be generic but also have relevance for Africa.
ISSN | 2223 814X
PUBLICATION DETAILS - a brief history and focus
AJHTL is owned by Africajournals, and is an ACCREDITED journal founded in 2004 by the work of Prof Dr Angelo Nicolaides of South Africa who was also its First Editor in Chief. He realized that a great need existed for such a journal on the African continent and it is indeed one of a kind as it promotes multi, inter and transdisciplinary research related to tourism, hospitality and leisure. Prof Dr Nicolaides was succeeded by Prof Dr Athena Smith of Florida, USA, followed by Dr. Willie Coetzee of Otago University, New Zealand and has also been immensely supported by Prof Dr Guido Migliaccio of the University of Sannio, Italy who have all helped to raise the standing of the journal. Today it proudly resides in the top 100 global Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure journals sitting at position 95 on Scimago Scientific Journal Rankings. It is hoped that our new and innovative Editor in Chief Prof Dr Tembi Tichaawa of the University of Johanneburg, South Africa, will raise the bar even higher.
The journal appears inter-alia, on the Scopus index and DOAJ and was on the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) list of approved South African journals from January 2014. AJHTL is also ranked and accredited by the highly respected EU research body, the University and Research System Assessment Agency (ANVUR, Italy).
This is an open-access journal - free use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium is allowed, provided that the journal, and original author(s) are credited.
Periodicity 2021/2022
Frequency: 5 or 6 issues per year (28 February, 30 April, 30 June, 30 August, 30 October, 15 December). Each issue will have up to 25 articles. In addition there are up to 2 special issues a year. A ‘Special Issue’ is a collection of papers focused on a specific topic. It may also be a collection of papers from a Conference associated with the journal.
The journal appears inter-alia, on the Scopus index and DOAJ and was on the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) list of approved South African journals from January 2014. AJHTL is also ranked and accredited by the highly respected EU research body, the University and Research System Assessment Agency (ANVUR, Italy).
This is an open-access journal - free use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium is allowed, provided that the journal, and original author(s) are credited.
Periodicity 2021/2022
Frequency: 5 or 6 issues per year (28 February, 30 April, 30 June, 30 August, 30 October, 15 December). Each issue will have up to 25 articles. In addition there are up to 2 special issues a year. A ‘Special Issue’ is a collection of papers focused on a specific topic. It may also be a collection of papers from a Conference associated with the journal.
publication Indexing and impact
INTERNATIONAL RANKING
|
indexed
|
ACCREDITATION
AJHTL appeared
on the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET, South Africa) list of approved South African journals from January 2014 -2018 Due to a DHET rule of 2019, articles on international indices need no longer appear on their list. |
article processing charges
There is no charge to submit a paper, but publishing a paper in AJHTL requires paper processing charges. Publication charges include publishing and administrative expenses.
Processing fees payable after peer-reviews but before publication:
Foreign authors:
US$325.00 and bank charges must also be added per article
Note: This does therefore not include bank charges which are to your account. Authors must indicate the article number and volume when making a payment.
Local authors:
R4950.00 per article excluding bank fees. Proof of payment must be made via email. Banking details will be provided on invoices sent out to authors. Authors must indicate the article number and volume when making a payment
If articles are not paid for by the stipulated date on the invoice, they will be permanently removed from the site and we reserve the right to not re-accept them under any circumstances. Please note that only one invoice is issued per article and this remains the case where multiple authors write an article. The corresponding author is the liable person.
There is no charge to submit a paper, but publishing a paper in AJHTL requires paper processing charges. Publication charges include publishing and administrative expenses.
Processing fees payable after peer-reviews but before publication:
Foreign authors:
US$325.00 and bank charges must also be added per article
Note: This does therefore not include bank charges which are to your account. Authors must indicate the article number and volume when making a payment.
Local authors:
R4950.00 per article excluding bank fees. Proof of payment must be made via email. Banking details will be provided on invoices sent out to authors. Authors must indicate the article number and volume when making a payment
If articles are not paid for by the stipulated date on the invoice, they will be permanently removed from the site and we reserve the right to not re-accept them under any circumstances. Please note that only one invoice is issued per article and this remains the case where multiple authors write an article. The corresponding author is the liable person.
AN OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL
AJHTL is free from all access barriers, allowing for the best possible global dissemination of your article.
RETAIN COPYRIGHT
You retain copyright and are free to disseminate your article, make copies for any use, and/or deposit in any repository or archive (thus retaining publishing right), provided that the journal, and original author(s) are credited.
Please see the COPYRIGHT NOTICE under the Submission section for further details.
DISCLAIMER
Although efforts are made to ensure that the contents of the articles are correct, AJHTL will not be responsible for any errors made or damages suffered as a result of reliance being placed on information obtained from the Journal. Furthermore, opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not reflect the opinion or viewpoint of AJHTL. Publication of an articles does not imply endorsement or agreement with any particular statement made in an article.
AJHTL is by no means responsible for the infringement by the contributing author/s for copyright infringement of a third party. The authors are responsible and should be held liable in such a case.
Although efforts are made to ensure that the contents of the articles are correct, AJHTL will not be responsible for any errors made or damages suffered as a result of reliance being placed on information obtained from the Journal. Furthermore, opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not reflect the opinion or viewpoint of AJHTL. Publication of an articles does not imply endorsement or agreement with any particular statement made in an article.
AJHTL is by no means responsible for the infringement by the contributing author/s for copyright infringement of a third party. The authors are responsible and should be held liable in such a case.

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