Table 1.

Paradox Research: advancing and transforming COVID-19 tourism research.

Paradoxes	Examples of fields for applying paradox research in COVID-19 tourism research
privacy and obscurity	•Technology adoption by tourists (e.g. mobility tracking applications and other surveillance systems) •Design and ethics of tourism technology applications
novelty and usefulness	•Innovating from necessity: types, processes, capabilities, facilitators and/or inhibitors of ‘innovation’ adopted by tourism firms to ensure business continuity and survival during COVID-19
cooperation and competition	•Practices and strategies of destinations and policy makers to combat and re-open their economies, e.g. Inter- governmental and destinations initiatives and bilateral, multilateral (biosecurity) agreements to create ‘travel bubbles’ for re-opening tourism across countries (e.g. Australia-NZ, China-Taiwan-S.Korea, HK, Greece-Cyprus, Baltic States)
global and local	•Configuration of tourism supply chains (e.g. local Vs global sourcing of food supplies, human resources, capital resources) •design of transportation – travel mobilities: e.g. airport and destination hubs, airline route design •Tourism policies and strategies, e.g. allocation of governmental interventions and subsidies between national and international firms to enable them to survive the COVID-19
self-focus and other-focus	•Tourists’ decision-making, quality evaluations and satisfaction from destinations and tourism providers under COVID-19 settings and conditions whereby self-presentation and self-safety may prevail over others’ and common good
stability and change	•Type and processes of change (of tourism firms, destinations and tourists) supported and led by the COVID-19 •Factors inhibiting and / or facilitating change due to COVID-19
self-preservation and self-actualisation	•motivations driving tourists’/human motivation and behaviour •tourists’ engagement with local communities and employees within a COVID-19 setting •employees’ engagement and behaviour towards tourists and organisations within a COVID-19 setting
high-tech and high-touch tourism services and experiences,	•Re-engineering of service delivery operations to make them touch free but highly personalised and human-centred experiences •re-design of travellers’ journeys and experiences
profits and purpose	•aims and scope of response and recovery strategies of tourism operators and destinations within COVID-19 •Social Corporate Responsibility of tourism operators and destinations within COVID-19 settings •Resetting of tourism strategies in the post COVID-19 era •Tourism sustainability policies, strategies and practices in the post COVID-19 era