Adaptive Domestic Tourism Planning: The 21st Century Global Covid-19 Pandemic Challenge

Domestic tourism entails movement within a national boundary for the purpose of leisure or recreation. The spasmodic outbreaks of contagious diseases have had immense and long-term effects on societies all through history; especially the 21st Century outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic which affected diverse facets of the economy and the society at large by disabling many economic and social entities. The pandemic has terminated over four hundred thousand lives. Boarder closure, lockdown or movement restriction has been widely upheld as a means of curbing the spread of the virus. However, such measure has also had dire implications on the overall economy and the families in particular. Since, the lockdown, there has been increase in the number of vices like domestic violence, alcohol intake, sexual abuse, suicide among others. The economic and social stress posed by the pandemic has also triggered increase in discouragement, depression and boredom. Due to the unreliability of international tourism and the need to revive the social and economic fabric of the nation, there is then need to strengthen domestic tourism. Furthermore, outdoor recreation not only reduces social stress and improves positive outlook to life, it has also been shown to help in militating against involvement in social vices. This study holds that outdoor recreation should be strengthened during and in the post COVID-19 world by proffering measures to make for healthy outdoor recreation. Among the recommendations put forward here is strict compliance to WHO safety measures especially those geared towards hygiene improvement and innovative planning of outdoor recreational facilities to meet present and future need. The study is significant as it highlights urban planners’ innovative approach to outdoor recreation, thereby contributing to enhancing lives in the post covid-19 world and also ameliorating the worsened health challenges in many countries occasioned by the impact of the lockdown.