The health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has incurred devastating effects on the world economy, especially in the tourism sector. This paper analyses, on the one hand, the impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on the efficiency of the hospitality industry in protected natural areas and, on the other hand, the effect of environmental factors on the performance of the sector. Twenty-seven Spanish protected natural areas are analysed and Data Envelopment Analysis is applied. The analysis determines that despite the strong impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector, there is a significant increase in the efficiency of the hospitality sector in protected natural areas, which provides evidence of the surplus of supply in natural areas before the pandemic. It is also found that both the tourist's perception of risk in the tourist destination and the territorial boundaries of the natural area play a fundamental role in the efficiency of tourism.

Management implications

This study has highlighted some key issues concerning the future tourism management of protected natural areas. These implications can be grounded through three recommendations that can affect both the business sector and the institutions themselves:

- In order to avoid inequalities between tourism destinations in terms of tourism efficiency, State policies should be developed aimed at providing territorial support measures that promote investment and incentives for companies to set up in less benefited natural tourism destinations.

- Tourism marketing and management policies should be developed to attract tourists and improve the image of tourist destinations, especially those most affected by the pandemic.

- In order to consolidate the good results of nature tourism and ensure that ecotourism is consolidated against other forms of tourism, institutions must create campaigns that allow the development and promotion of nature tourism in protected natural areas.

中文翻译：

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生态旅游和 COVID-19：对西班牙酒店业效率的影响

COVID-19 大流行引发的健康危机对世界经济，特别是旅游业造成了毁灭性影响。本文一方面分析了 COVID-19 健康危机对自然保护区酒店业效率的影响，另一方面分析了环境因素对该行业绩效的影响。对 27 个西班牙自然保护区进行了分析并应用了数据包络分析。分析确定，尽管COVID-19对旅游业产生了强烈影响，但自然保护区内的酒店业效率却显着提高，这提供了大流行前自然地区供应过剩的证据。

管理影响

这项研究强调了有关自然保护区未来旅游管理的一些关键问题。这些影响可以通过三项可能影响商业部门和机构本身的建议来实现：

- 为了避免旅游目的地之间在旅游效率方面的不平等，应制定国家政策，旨在提供领土支持措施，促进投资并鼓励公司在受益较少的自然旅游目的地设立办事处。

——制定旅游营销和管理政策，吸引游客，改善旅游目的地特别是受疫情影响最严重的旅游目的地形象。

- 为了巩固自然旅游的良好成果并确保生态旅游与其他形式的旅游相结合，各机构必须开展活动，允许在自然保护区内发展和促进自然旅游。