Daniela Antonescu (p), Ioana Cristina Florescu

Vítor João Pereira Domingues Martinho

This paper investigates regional inequality from two standpoints. First, it explores them from a EU-27 perspective by assessing the incidence of economic growth for 271 regions NUTS 2. Using Eurostat data and following both cross-sectional and time series approaches (2019-2022), results show that, while regional inequality decreases with growing GDP per capita, regional polarization is more persistent and does not necessarily follow the same rule. The paper also delivers assessment of sigma-convergence and regional polarization for regions NUTS 2 in European Union, with findings pinpointing the importance of spatial clustering (which is contributing considerably to regional inequality levels), but also its complementary with sigma-convergence measures (as regional inequality trajectories are not necessary associated with spatial clustering trajectories).

Carolina Guevara Rosero (p), Víctor Hinojosa, Christian Vasconez

Daniela Antonescu

Environmental pollution, road infrastructure, housing, and public investment in health infrastructure and personnel are factors that determine the lethality rates associated with pandemics. (Seligmanid et al., 2021; Wagstaff, 2002; Giancotti et al., 2021).

At the individual level, income or socioeconomic status, type of employment, educational level, age, gender, race or ethnicity, and health status or pre-existing illness can have a considerable effect on the final outcome of a person contracting an infectious disease such as COVID-19 (Abrams & Szefler, 2020; Ahmed et al., 2020; Butler-Jones & Wong, 2016; Upshaw et al., 2021; Federico et al., 2020; Gebhard et al., 2020; Ortiz-Hernández & Pérez- Sastré, 2020).

The present study seeks to determine the probability of death by COVID-19 of individuals by analyzing his individual and contextual characteristics related to his/her canton of residence with emphasis on the structure of the health system. Using a multilevel model, preliminary results shows that the probability of death by COVID-19 increases with age and males are more likely to die due to COVID-19. The number of health centers of level 1 is associated with lower probabilities of death by COVID-19 of individuals. Low levels of adequate employment increase the probability of death by COVID-19 of an individual.

Mingji Cui (p), Hiroyuki Shibusawa

Carolina Guevara Rosero

The tourism sector, which was severely affected by COVID-19 over the past three years, has slowly recovered back to pre-COVID-19 levels. However, tourism-related establishments are still facing various challenges to recovery, such as a labor shortage, a reduction in the size of establishments, and restrained capital investment by accommodation operators due to deteriorating business conditions. In order to support tourism-related establishments that were severely affected by COVID-19 and to revitalize tourism destination economies, it is necessary to clarify the actual economic impacts of the pandemic and the effectiveness of economic support measures. With the unprecedented long-term effects of the pandemic, policy implementation that cannot be referred to by previous experience will be optimized through iterative evaluation and feedback, which requires supporting evidence in all the processes of policy assessment. Therefore, a questionnaire survey is an effective method for providing objective and visual data of actual situations for developing and evaluating economic support measures.
Hot spring tourism destinations are characterized by a high concentration of accommodation facilities in specific areas, high dependence on tourism, and susceptibility to external factors such as natural disasters, infectious diseases, and economic fluctuations. This study aims to clarify the actual economic and policy effects of hot spring tourist attractions in COVID-19 through a questionnaire survey of tourism-related establishments in the Kinosaki hot spring tourist destination. First, the economic impact of COVID-19 on the Kinosaki hot spring area is determined by examining changes in sales and closures of tourism-related facilities. Next, we investigate the effects of various economic support measures implemented by the government. Furthermore, we identify the issues and support measures for future tourism revitalization.

Vítor João Pereira Domingues Martinho (p)

Mingji Cui

The pilgrimage, including that for Santiago de Compostela, was profoundly affected by the restrictions and lockdowns to contain the effects of the infection caused by the virus associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. These frameworks brought relevant impacts for the welfare of the populations, namely for those accustomed to having contact with nature and who like to explore the spiritual dimensions of their lives. On the other hand, these disturbances also have implications for the economic activities interrelated with the pilgrimage routes, namely those associated with the tourism sector. In this context, this study aims to analyse the main impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and how these new realities affected the socioeconomic dimensions, particularly in the North of Portugal and Galicia regions. For that statistical information from the Oficina de Acogida al Peregrino was considered. These data were explored through spatial autocorrelation approaches and econometric models. These data were also compared with other variables obtained from the Eurostat database. These results highlight the relevant impacts of the pandemic on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and the consequent negative externalities for the associated economic activities in the regions crossed by pilgrimage routes. The impacts were not uniform over the regions analysed and there were created new spatial dynamics.

Acknowledgments: This work is funded by National Funds through the FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project Refª UIDB/00681/2020 and the initiative “i2a-CERNAS/Verão com Ciência” in 2022. This research is also funded by the Promover - Consultores, Lda company. Furthermore, we would like to thank the CERNAS Research Centre and the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu for their support. This study was carried out under the project “Proposta de traçado para o Caminho Português Interior de Santiago no concelho de Castro Daire” (CERNAS-IPV/2022/007).