Rebuilding Health Tourism Destination Image After Covid-19: The Case Of Malaysia And Indonesia

Tourism industry is observed as one of the hardest hits by Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. It caused severe drop in travel demands and putting many SMEs at risk which lead to job losses at global level. Much business expertise predicted that it would take longer time for the industry to recover especially on the international tourism market. This is due to changes in people's behaviour relating to social distancing, personal hygiene and safety, and likelihood to be more vigilant to travel overseas in the future. While Malaysia and Indonesia are recognized as prominent health tourism destinations in South East Asia, these countries are deeply distressed by this transformation too. Therefore, this paper discusses the positive images of these destinations to help tourism players to improve their marketing strategies during this critical time. The findings of this study are significant to recognize the impacts of Covid-19 outbreak and to strengthen crisis management strategies in the future. Finally, it will allow destination to boost its product profile in the target market and become more resilient to any future shocks.