Research Proposal

Introduction

Travel and tourism activities define a major industry in Europe. As a worldwide leader in international

tourism, Europe plays a vital role in the economic impact of the global travel industry. For the European

economy alone, travel and tourism directly contributed an estimated 782 billion euros to GDP in 2019

and 14.4 million jobs through direct employment in the sector. However, at the moment Europe is

facing a huge fall in tourists following the coronavirus outbreak with the quarantine measures in line of

ongoing Coronavirus epidemics.

The 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak is an ongoing epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),

caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and by now

has spread all over the world. As of 28 February 2020, more than 83,000 cases have been confirmed,

including in all provinces of China and more than fifty other countries. There have been more than 2,850

deaths and more than 36,000 people have since recovered.

Research objectives

1. To identify the influence of Coronavirus in several European countries on the number of

tourists.

2. To evaluate the governments’ actions to prevent and solve the problem of spreading of virus

across European countries.

3. To examine how wiling are people to travel around Europe now.

Research questions

1. How the spreading of virus influences the trend in tourism in Europe?

2. What actions have been taken by the government to prevent the multiple infections? 

3. How do people feel about visiting the potential risk countries? 

In order to identify the influence of Coronavirus in several European countries on the number of

tourists, we take the statistics for France.

For the fist step we search the data about the number of tourists coming to France over the last years.

Research Design

Secondary Research (Quantitative data):

The purpose

As more nations have restricted travel to and from China, effectively quarantining the world’s most

populous nation, the ever-present large groups of Chinese tourists, have disappeared from the

European landscape. To say nothing about tourists from Europe. With the outbreak showing few signs of

abating, tourism-dependent businesses across Europe are bracing for empty hotel rooms and stores in

the coming high season.

100000

90000

80000
Number of tourists, thousands

70000

60000

50000

40000

30000

20000

10000

0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Years

Figure.1 Number of tourists visiting France (2014-2020)

The procedure
France is one of the most visited countries in the world. According to the country’s Ministry for Europe

and Foreign Affairs, 89.4 million visitors toured France in 2018 and tourism accounts for nearly 8% of its

gross domestic product. France is one of the most favorite shopping destinations for Chinese tourists

(welcoming 2.7 million each year).

As can be seen from the chart the number of tourists decreased by approximately 35% following the

saying of France Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. This fall is mainly because of Chinese tourists have

been restricted to travel, moreover, the people in Europe are afraid to travel in order not to get

infected.

Primary Research (Qualitative)

The purpose

To understand how willing are people to travel around Europe taking into account nowadays situation

we decided to carry out the experiment and observation, as well as to make a questionnaire.

The Procedure

Observation

 Indirect 

 Covert 

 Semi-structured 

 Invented  

The observation will be held in an airport. We will count the number of passengers who are going to

Europe countries.  

Between subject Experimentation

decision to travel there. 

The experiment will be made in a Travel Agency that is specialised on tours to Europe. Administrative

staff will work with two groups: control and manipulation. The first one will get the same information as
always, and the second one will be fully informed about the coronavirus in Europe countries. We will see

how this information make them feel about the trip, will they buy the tour or not.

Questionnaire

The purpose

To understand how people feel about visiting the potential risk countries we conducted a questionnaire

consist of 20 questions. (see Appendix)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/world/europe/coronavirus-tourism-europe.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/23/coronavirus-impact-france-sees-tourism-numbers-fall-by-

30percent-to-40percent.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2020/02/25/tourism-in-france-set-to-plummet-by-30-

40-due-to-coronavirus/

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/feb/26/how-the-coronavirus-outbreak-is-affecting-

travel-in-europe
 Appendix

Questionnaire

1. How often do you travel per year ? 

 1-2 times 

 3-5 times 

 6-9 times

 10 and more times 

1. What are the purposes of your travelling ? 

 business trips

 Internship (for study)

 Just because I enjoy it 

 Other 

3. Where do you usually travel ? 

 Asia 

 Europe 

 South America 

 North America 

 Africa 

 Other

4. With whom do you usually travel? 

 Family 

 Friends 

 Partner (boyfriend, girlfriend)

 Alone 

5. Do you prefer cheap or luxurious trips?

 Cheap 

 Luxurious 

6. Do you like travelling to Europe? 

 Yes 

 No

7.  Do you worry about variable infections that can be got after visiting different countries? 

 Yes, I will never go anywhere with the possibility of being infected 

 No, I believe that taking proper care of health prevent the infection 

 I do not care 

 Other

8. Have you heard about the Epidemic of Coronavirus ? 

 Yes 

 No 

9. Do you know that it has already reached Europe countries? 

 Yes 

 No  

10. Where did you learn about existing of the virus in Europe? 

 Radio

 Newspaper 

 Magazines 

 Internet 

 Other 

11. Does this fact can affect on your decision to travel to Europe? 
  Yes

 No 

12. How do you feel about closing some countries in order not to spread the virus? 

 Strongly Agree 

 Agree 

 Neutrally 

 Disagree 

 Strongly Disagree

13. Are you afraid of visiting countries that are infected? 

 Yes

 No 

14. Will low prices for the tours to Europe make you go there despite the fact of the virus?

 Low prices are a good chance to see the Europe, Virus will not prevent my plans

 I do not want to increase the risks of being infected 

 Other 

15. What are the best ways to protect yourself from the virus?

 Special mask 

 Medicine drugs for improving immunity 

 Do not visit crowded places 

 Other 

16. Which Europe country you will definitely not go while the coronavirus exist? 

 Italy 

 France 

 Spain 

 Belgium 

 Germany 

 Other 
 

17. From your point of view what can government do to improve the situation? 

18. How old are you? 

 Under 20 

 20 - 25 

 25 - 40

 40 - 60 

 Over 60 

19. What sex are you? 

 Female 

 Male 

 Prefer not to answer 

20. What Country are you from?