Research Background and Objectives
This research is an analytical report by the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) aimed at empirically evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of leisure industries, including golf courses, bowling alleys, amusement parks, and theme parks. Since face-to-face contact is essential in the leisure industry, movement restrictions due to the spread of COVID-19 significantly affected business operations.
Distinctive Research Methodology
The uniqueness of this research lies in geocoding location information of establishment-level microdata and linking it with big data on human mobility to statistically evaluate how changes in people's outings around establishments during the COVID-19 pandemic affected business performance. The analysis was conducted using monthly panel data at the establishment level from January 2019 to December 2021.
Key Analytical Findings
It was found that increases in new COVID-19 cases had a direct negative impact on leisure industry performance. An interesting discovery was that when comparing the pre-COVID-19 period with during the pandemic, structural changes were observed in the correlation between performance and weekday outings, suggesting potential behavioral changes in leisure activities.
Research Significance
This research was published in August 2025 as part of an evidence-based policy formation project for regional revitalization by Senior Researcher Keisuke Kondo and Faculty Fellow Toshihiro Okubo. It provides valuable insights as a quantitative analysis of the impact of infectious diseases on the leisure industry.