Impact of COVID-19 on the Performance of the Tourism Sector in Sri Lanka: A Balanced Scorecard Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of the tourism sector in Sri Lanka. There is a dearth of studies that have used a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry. The impact of COVID-19 on the performance is measured by developing a BSC including; financial, customer, learning and growth, and internal business indicators. This study collects primary data using a questionnaire from 110 tourist accommodation providers. Initially, the reliability and validity of the questionnaires are ensured and conducted the descriptive analysis to measure the impact on the performance. In addition, due to the lack of normality in the data set of this study, the Kruskal Wallis test was performed to analyze the difference in performance between the number of employees, star ratings, and the number of years in existence. The findings revealed that there is a high-level impact on all performance indicators. In addition, the impact of COVID-19 does not change according to the number of employees and the star rating but there is a difference in financial performance with the number of years in existence. The findings of this study create the BSC to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry which adds new knowledge to stakeholder theory. The methodology, findings, and recommendations of the study are academically and professionally significant for a variety of hotel sector firms, the tourist board, and policymakers.