The Impact of COVID-19 on Luxury Consumption in Tourism to and from Dubai

Abstract

Click Here:Access Full Text

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has damaged the consumption of luxury products and services, yet the academic interest in luxury tourism shopping remains limited. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in tourism literature identifying the untapped potential of luxury consumption in tourism. In this exploratory research, convenient sampling was used to select and interview in-bound and out-bound tourists based in Dubai regarding their luxury shopping behaviour. Thematic analysis was applied to identify factors for comparison between emerging themes. Research findings indicated that luxury consumption is a combination of planned and experiential consumption behaviour as identified from the thematic analysis based on comparison of in-bound and out-bound tourists’ luxury shopping behaviour and experiences. Findings of this research provided themes as: perception of luxury shopping in and from Dubai, luxury shopping motivation for tourists before COVID-19 and impact of COVID-19 on luxury tourism shopping. This original study attempts to highlight Dubai as a luxury shopping destination strategizing marketing to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on luxury tourism markets. The research contributes to tourism and marketing literature by identifying comparative factors for in-bound and out-bound luxury tourism markets.

Keywords: Luxury Consumption, COVID-19, Tourism, Shopping, Consumer Behaviour

View PDF