Sociocultural impacts of COVID-19: A social representations perspective

While COVID-19's public health and economic impacts are evident, its sociocultural impacts are often overlooked. This study takes the case of the Italian destination of Pisa during the early stages of the pandemic – when most infection cases were assumed to be imported from China - and investigates Social Representations of Chinese tourists from an Italian host perspective. Through fifteen interviews with local suppliers, two co-existing Social Representations are identified and expressed through Italian literary metaphors: “the Hen with Golden Eggs” and “the Anointer”. This research shows that, while the dominant hegemonic representation is rooted in rationality, the emerging polemic representation is anchored in pre-Enlightenment sociocultural fears. Finally, the uncertain future of post-COVID19 tourism considering potential stereotypes, xenophobia and racism is discussed.