The activities and characteristics of heritage, cultural, and creative tourism are notably distinct despite the fact that they are frequently confused and misunderstood. Moreover, these types of tourism have been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This review article aims to explore the characteristics of three types of tourism, both pre- and post-pandemic, and seeks to propose sustainable solutions with new opportunities for the tourism industry. The article adopts a PRISMA flow diagram and VOSviewer to perform a systematic literature review, ultimately selecting 179 articles from the Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases and grouping them into five clusters: 1) heritage, cultural, and creative tourism; 2) co-creation; 3) creative city; 4) sustainability; and 5) technology and innovation. Consequently, this review article proposes a final framework presenting five related clusters suggesting sustainable solutions for creative tourism. It may aid the tourism industries in their transition to creative tourism, which is more sustainable and broadly focused while ensuring safety and enhancing income for local communities in the post-pandemic period.

The COVID-19 pandemic occasioned significant changes in many aspects of human life. The education system is one of the most impacted sectors during the pandemic. With the contagious nature of the disease, governments around the world encouraged social distancing between individuals to prevent the spread of the virus. This led to the shutdown of many academic institutions, to avoid mass gatherings and overcrowded places. Developed and developing countries either postponed their academic activities or used digital technologies to reach learners remotely. The study examined the benefits of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants for the study consist of 5 lecturers and 30 students from the ML Sultan Campus of the Durban University of Technology, South Africa. Data was collected using open-ended interviews. Content analysis was applied to analyze the data collected. Data was collected until it was saturated. Different ways were implemented to make online learning and teaching successful. The findings identified that the benefits of online learning were that it promotes independent learning, flexible learning adaptability and others.

During and after the Covid-19 outbreak, people’s precautionary measures of not visiting public venues like cinema halls or multiplexes were replaced by watching treasured videos or films in private settings. People are able to watch their favourite video contents on a variety of internet-connected gadgets thanks to advanced technologies. As a result, it appears that the Covid-19 outbreak has had a substantial impact on people’s inclination to continue using video streaming services. This study attempted to establish an integrated framework that describes how people change their health behaviours during pandemic conditions using the health belief model (HBM), as well as the mediating effect of HBM constructs over ECM constructs such as continuous intention to subscribe to OTT video streaming services among subscribers. The study looked at the impact of three perceived constructs, susceptibility, severity, and self-efficacy, on the confirmation/adoption of over-the-top (OTT) video streaming services during the lethal pandemic (Covid-19). The study focused on new OTT video streaming service subscribers, and 473 valid replies were collected. Path analysis and multivariate analytical methods, such as structural equation modelling (SEM), were used to estimate construct linkages in the integrated framework. Perceived severity has been identified as the most influential factor in confirmation/adoption, followed by perceived susceptibility. The results also showed that satisfied users/subscribers are more likely to use OTT video streaming services. The mediators, confirmation/adoption, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction were used to validate the influence of perceived susceptibility on continuance intention. Furthermore, contactless entertainment enhances security for users/subscribers by allowing them to be amused across several internet-based venues while adhering to social distance norms.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals and their families faced various risk factors, which in some cases resulted in divorce. Adolescents in such families had to grapple with COVID-19 across the world, the risk factors faced by adolescents have largely been under-risk factors associated with COVID-19 and divorce. Despite the rise of divorce during studied, especially among adolescents in South Africa. This study aimed to explore the risk factors experienced by adolescents from divorced households during the COVID-19 pandemic and make recommendations for policy and development. This study employed a phenomenological research design in alignment with qualitative research. Purposive sampling was used to recruit five female adolescents in Johannesburg. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Data was analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s six steps of data analysis. The findings revealed that conflict at home, mental illness, physical and social isolation, a lack of paternal support, and diminished educational performance emerged as risk factors faced by the participants. These findings underscore the need for psychological interventions to help address the risk factors faced by adolescents whose parents divorced during the pandemic and those who face similar circumstances during future crises.

This paper provides a disaster resilience-based approach. For the definition of the approach, a three-step method (definition of components, analysis of the resilience pillars and definitions of resilience-based actions) has been followed. To validate the approach, an application scenario for mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic is provided in the paper. The proposed approach contributes to stimulating the co-responsibility quadruple helix of actors in the implementation of actions for disaster management. Moreover, the approach is adaptable and flexible, as it can be used to manage different kinds of disasters, adjusting or changing itself to meet specific needs.

Hybrid learning (HL) has become a significant part of the learning style for the higher education sector in the Sri Lankan context amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic crisis. This research study aims to discover the effectiveness of hybrid learning (EHL) practices in enhancing undergraduates’ outcomes in Sri Lankan Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) management faculties. The data for the study were gathered through an online questionnaire survey, which received 379 responses. The questionnaire contained 38 questions under four sections covering independent variables, excluding demographic questions. The results indicate that hybrid learner attitude, interaction, and benefits of hybrid learning positively impact the effectiveness of hybrid learning. The results remain consistent even after controlling for socio-demographic factors and focusing only on students employed during their higher education. The study concluded that employed students have a higher preference for the effectiveness of hybrid learning concepts, and the benefits of hybrid learning play a crucial role in enhancing the effectiveness among undergraduates. The study analyzes COVID-19’s impact on higher education, proposing hybrid learning and regulatory frameworks based on pandemic experiences while stressing the benefits of remote teaching and research.