CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN TOURISM DESTINATIONS: EXPERIENCES FROM THE MUNICIPALITY OF MAPUTO IN MOZAMBIQUE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF COVID-19

The tourism sector has experienced several crisis situations due to various factors such as wars, terrorism, extreme weather events, economic recessions and pandemics. Those events adversely affect this sector. Furthermore, with the Covid-19 pandemic a number of negative impacts were observed in this sector, mainly with the limitation of the mobility of persons by the restrictions imposed in pandemic containment. Indeed, the municipality of Maputo in Mozambique is struggling with the effects of this crisis and requires a more pragmatic stance from governmental entities in managing the relevant sector's crisis. Faced with this scenario, this study assesses the crisis management in the tourism sector in the municipality of Maputo within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. In methodological terms, besides the bibliographical consultation of works addressing management crisis in the tourism sector and the impacts of Covid-19 in Mozambique and Maputo, a documental analysis was carried out and interviews were held with managers of institutions - public and private - for data and information gathering on the impacts of Covid-19, including the counter measures outlined to face the crisis in this economic field. The data show that despite is the existence of a national entity responsible for managing crisis in the tourism sector as the Tourism Forum, and there exists the Culture and Tourism Council in Maputo, the study has concluded that since the pandemic outbreak, these management bodies have taken a few actions minimizing the negative impacts of the pandemic. On the basis of this finding, other approaches to tackling the current crisis and future ones are recommended.