External forces such as globalization and technological change have led to a decline in traditional agricultural, forestry, and mining jobs in rural America. As a result, many small towns and communities in rural areas are looking to effective means such as recreation and tourism for economic diversification and growth. The rural authenticity, unique culture and heritage, distinctive and “alive” assets of traditional music, art and craft, local food and drink, and outdoor beauty and recreation have been increasingly identified as important assets that can help to improve local economies. It is argued that asset-based economic development is more sustainable as opposed to the traditional coal mining industry and the newly emerged Marcellus Shale gas industry in the Appalachia and Northeastern region. One of the six goals identified in the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) 2016-2020 Strategic Plan focuses on “strengthening Appalachia’s community and economic development potential by leveraging the Region’s natural and cultural heritage assets.” To achieve this goal, ARC has provided funding for hundreds of projects in a wide range of program areas, including “asset-based development”, “entrepreneurship and business development”, and “tourism development.” The increasing importance of the recreation economy has also been recognized by the USDA as an emerging or priority area of national need and an effective means for rural development. A recent study (OIA, 2016) reveals that outdoor recreation economy generates $887 billion in spending, supports 7.6 million direct American jobs and generates $125 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue.

Previous studies have found that nonmetro counties with high recreation development have a population gain because rural amenities and recreation opportunities attracted people for permanent residence (Beale & Johnson, 1998; Headwaters Economics, 2019; Johnson & Beale, 2002; McGranahan, 1999). In West Virginia, a study on visitors’ economic impact by Dean Runyan Associates (2018) indicates that the size of the travel industry in relation to the total economy of a locale is more significant in some smaller communities and rural areas than urban areas in the state. For some rural counties like Greenbrier, Tucker, and Pocahontas with unique scenic and outdoor recreational opportunities, the travel industry is a vital component of the total local economy in terms of travel-generated employment and earnings.

While recognizing the role that recreation/tourism plays in rural areas, tourism itself is very susceptible/vulnerable to external factors (Williams & Balaz, 2014) such as natural disasters, economic crises, disease outbreaks, climate change, terrorism, and uncertainties in safety and security, among others. For example, between 2000 and 2015, international tourism has suffered from major disruptive events such as the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, the global economic crisis in 2008/2009, and the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak. However, the negative impacts caused by these events on tourism were short lived and “none of one of them [have] led to a longer-term decline in the global development of tourism, … with only SARS (-0.4%) and the global economic crisis (-4.0%) leading to declines in international arrivals (Gossling et al., 2021, p. 3). Thus, tourism as a system seemed to be resilient as it will eventually recover from external shocks. That said, the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented “with no foreseeable conclusion” (Litvin et al., 2021, p.1), causing unemployment rates in the USA to the level not seen since the great recession in 1930’s (USDA Economic Research Service, 2021b). As a result, its impact on certain sectors of the tourism system may be permanent and may not be able to go back to the level they were prior to the pandemic.

The county-level impact of COVID-19 pandemic on rural America in terms of local unemployment and employment rates were analyzed by USDA Economic Research Service (2021) which classifies all U.S. counties into six economic dependence types: farming, mining, manufacturing, Federal/State government, recreation, and nonspecialized. It is found that COVID-19 case rates are lowest in nonmetro recreation counties while highest in nonmetro manufacturing-dependent counties. However, the Northeast region, especially in Appalachia, is among the highest unemployment rates in March 2021. Therefore, given the importance of outdoor recreation/rural tourism in local economy and its vulnerability to external shocks, particularly the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, a multistate long-term project that assesses and monitors the recovery of the tourism sector in rural areas deems necessary. 

The economic distress facing rural America has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which has profoundly affected people’s lives. While tourism has been regarded as an effective means for rural economic development and diversification, it has been hit hardest by the pandemic (Ugur & Akbıyık, 2020). For example, international arrivals plunged by 74% in 2020 with an estimated loss of 1.3 trillion in international visitors’ spending in the same year (UNWTO, 2021). In the U.S., travel spending in 2020 declined by 42% from 2019 (US Travel Association, 2021). Specifically, in terms of the hospitality sector of the tourism system, the expected room revenue loss for US hotels is nearly $83.7 billion in 2020 (vs. $51.2 billion for 2021) (American Hotel and Lodging Association, 2021). The American Hotel & Lodging Association conducted a survey of over 1200 members in November 2020 about the hotel’s financial outlook and staffing levels, finding that 71% of hotels cannot survive for another 6 months without further federal assistance and 77% will have to lay off more employees given the current and predicted travel demand. Moreover, over one thirds of hotels will face bankruptcy or be forced to sell by the end of 2020.

While the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry is widespread, the depth and breadth of the impacts vary among businesses and destinations.  Small businesses that account for the largest chunk of the tourism sector in rural areas have suffered the most. For example, the Northeast region, especially in Appalachia, had the highest unemployment rates (USDA Economic Research Service, 2021a). While the COVID-19 crisis has drawn increasing attention from researchers, research on rural people as a whole (Mueller et al., 2021) and rural tourism in particular is largely limited even though rural areas accounted for the highest percent of COVID-19 cases and deaths (USDA Economic Research, 2021b). Although small and medium-sized businesses are more vulnerable to crisis impacts compared to large hotels, airlines, and tour companies, tourism crisis management tends to focus on the latter with small businesses being largely ignored (Cioccio & Michael, 2007; Cushnahan, 2004). There is a lack of understanding as to how businesses and destinations have responded to the crisis at the meso level (regional, state) (Neise et al., 2021). Watson and Deller (2021) argue that “the resiliency of these tourism- and hospitality-dependent regions to recover from such shocks is less well understood” (p.1). Furthermore, Yang’s et al. (2021) study on community resilience measurement indicates that tourism sectors are important in measuring community resilience. Thus, there is a need to examine the impact of crises and disasters such as COVID-19 on the tourism sector in rural areas systematically and longitudinally to fully understand the resilience, adaptability, and recoverability of rural tourism across states during and following the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic may offer an opportunity for tourism sectors in rural areas to restructure in a more sustainable way in the long term. It is hoped that rural tourism will come back better and more resilient following the COVID-19 pandemic.