The Impact of COVID-19 on Social Innovation in the Tourism Industry in Macau

Abstract

Innovation is crucial to society’s development; studying innovation will inspire organisations to move them forward. Can social innovation (SI) keep Macau’s Tourism sector moving, or can it benefit Macau society in the long run, once the pandemic quarantine policy is abandoned? This research will first review the definition of SI and understand SI’s basic features and their effect. Selected cases from the Tourism industry will be explored to explain the SI situation in Macau. Then, through qualitative interviews with the SI developers, I will describe their impact of this quarantine situation and evaluate their products’ contribution to SI in Macau. As a significant tourist destination in China and surrounding areas, focusing on the Tourism industry will highlight the communication situation and the effect of SI on the dialogue during the pandemic crisis. This article then discusses the influence of SI, focusing on SI cases in the Tourism industry from 2020 onwards, to examine whether such innovations can strengthen or weaken the social dialogue between China and Macau SAR.

Keywords: Social Innovation on Tourism, Augmented Reality products, Online Tour products. Innovation effect on Tourism
World