Urban resilience as a mitigating factor against economically driven out-migration during COVID-19: The case of Eilat, a tourism-based city

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an ongoing global crisis. The unprecedented shock has been particularly devastating for tourism-based cities and has tested their resilience. This study addresses the mitigating role of urban resilience in the interplay between acute crises and the phenomenon of urban outmigration. Leveraging a unique dataset collected during the first national lockdown that followed the outbreak of COVID-19 in the city of Eilat (Israel)—a geographically isolated single economic sector-based city with no feasible options to commute—we offer here a new conceptual framework and an empirical framework for measuring perceived resilience. Using validated psychometric questionnaires and employing the nested hierarchical modeling approach, we estimate the impact of perceived resilience on the decision to migrate from the city. We find that even though Eilat has all the attributes to experience significant out-migration, its residents are not inclined towards migration due to its prior investment in resilience measures, which strengthened the local community and created a unique credo shared by its residents. These findings call for policymakers to focus on long-term resilience schemes directed at increasing the appeal that cities have for their residents and ensuring their endurance in times of extreme hardship.