After the outbreak of COVID-19 (especially in the stage of tourism recovery), the bed and breakfast (B&B) tourism industry faced big challenges in improving its health strategies. B&Bs are very important for the tourism industry in China and many other countries. However, few studies have studied the impact of B&Bs, under COVID-19, on tourism in China. Our paper is among one of the first studies to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on tourist satisfaction with B&Bs in China. The work/travel restrictions started from 20 January 2020, and work/after travel resumed from 20 February 2020 in Zhejiang, China. Data were collected from 588 tourists (who experienced B&Bs in Zhejiang, China) from a WeChat online survey, from 1 March to 15 March 2020. The current study attempted to fill the gap by studying the changing tourist satisfaction levels with B&Bs before/after COVID-19. Moreover, some suggestions are given to the B&B industry for tourism resumption after COVID-19 by an importance–performance analysis (IPA).

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became significant to study how to improve the customer satisfaction for Japanese tourist accommodations for restart and recovery in the future, and in preparation for the 2021 Japan Olympics. Therefore, the current paper attempts to evaluate ryokans through descriptive statistics from a tourism accommodation survey and customer-satisfaction-related comprehensive assessment system for built environment efficiency (CASBEE) importance–performance analysis (IPA). Through three progressive studies, three findings were obtained: (1) ryokans are more flexible than hotels, have strong anti-risk capabilities, and have received more and more attention from tourists and support from the Japanese government; (2) improvement strategies for customer satisfaction after COVID-19 were provided from IPA; and (3) a dynamic evaluation model of green ryokans was discussed and may be employed in other countries and regions experiencing the same situation.

Purpose: Adaptive reuse of building assets is an important approach to sustainability. Adapting a building for new uses often involves complex factors in the decision-making process, particularly in conservation areas. The paper aims to show an evaluation process of the adaptive reuse potential of historic buildings that are subject to change in the Grand Canal area, a world heritage site in Hangzhou, China. Design/methodology/approach: For this purpose, a model has been established with aggregated views of professionals on the degree to which a variety of factors affect the buildings’ potential for adaptive reuse. The model intends to help prioritise some of the buildings in the area for adaptive reuse, which is important for effective allocation of public resources. Interviews with professionals, analytic hierarchy process and the Delphi method have been used to establish the evaluation model. It is then applied to the Grand Canal area to generate indices for buildings’ adaptive reuse potential and the ranking of priority. The indices are generated through public scoring of historic buildings against the variables and calculated through the model. Findings: The paper concludes that the evaluation process is an effective way to engage the public in the decision-making process and to balance conflict interests of various stakeholders in the management of historic building assets in conservation areas. Originality/value: The research has proposed an evaluation model to help set priority of buildings subject to adaptive reuse and to help distribute public fund effectively. It facilitates wide public engagement in the decision-making progress of adaptive reuse of historic buildings.

After the recession in Japan in the 1990s, Japanese art exhibitions began to appear. The purpose of these exhibitions was to revitalize these areas through the presentation of art (attracting visitors and tourists). Correspondingly, this study explores the significance of exhibition-driven tourism in Japan. The Echigo–Tsumari Art Triennial (ETAT) was used as a case to study how exhibition-driven tourism has impacted sustainable tourism, economics, and the population. The current paper collected panel data from 1900 to 2018. These panel data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and a correlation analysis (a one-way ANOVA and a Pearson correlation analysis in SPSS26). The empirical analysis showed that the Echigo–Tsumari Art Triennial (exhibition-driven tourism) had positive impacts on sustainable tourism, economics, and the population; its correlations with Niigata were also clear. This study generated results that are valuable from both academic and industry perspectives (exhibition-driven tourism), as this field has not been extensively researched. The current paper also presents the theoretical and practical implications of the statistical results.

In the post-epidemic era, regular epidemic prevention and control is a daunting and ongoing task for nations all around the world. University halls of residence have been important spaces where university students balance their studies, work, and personal lives after COVID-19. Therefore, a healthy physical living environment deserves more attention. This paper compares situations before and after COVID-19 in an effort to evaluate the impact of indoor environments in university halls of residence on students. The study proposed eight vital dimensions for creating a healthy university hall of residence environment and, from 14 September to 4 October 2022, used an online questionnaire to collect data from 301 university students studying in Zhejiang, China. The key quality of service characteristics for fostering a healthy environment in university halls of residence were discovered using descriptive statistical analysis and revised importance–performance analysis (IPA). We found that an improved indoor physical environment and efficient arrangement of indoor space were crucial for the health of university students. The quality of educational services could be improved, and indoor exercise should be utilized effectively, both of which can contribute significantly to a healthy indoor environment. This study aims to contribute to the development of future initiatives to support healthy physical living environments in university halls of residence.