Reflection on leisure during COVID-19

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of leisure during the outbreak of coronavirus, which affected the lives of people around the world. It is based on descriptions, observations, and reflections made by scholars from eleven places across five continents. Seven common issues were identified in the analysis. These are: shift to home-based activities, proliferation of online offering and use, growing need for connectivity, accentuated inequality, survival of the leisure industry, increased demand for psychological support, and enhanced acts of helping hands and voluntarism. Whereas the sudden outbreak of the pandemic did not allow enough time for undertaking rigorous research, the observations and reflections provide a solid platform for conducting studies on the impact of the coronavirus on people's leisure across different contexts and cultures.