The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented systemic shock to global tourism, yet recovery trajectories have varied significantly across demand segments. This study investigates asymmetric recovery patterns between inbound and domestic tourism in Andhra Pradesh, India, using sub-national Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) data covering the period 2018–19 to 2023–24. Moving beyond descriptive trend analysis, the study develops quantitative indicators including shock intensity ratios, elasticity differentials, recovery convergence indices, and structural reconfiguration measures to evaluate crisis sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Results indicate that inbound tourism contracted by 94.9% during the pandemic shock, compared to a 90.2% contraction in domestic tourism. By 2023–24, domestic tourism exceeded its pre-pandemic peak, whereas inbound tourism recovered to only 48% of its 2019–20 level. The findings provide empirical support for crisis elasticity asymmetry and demonstrate that domestically anchored tourism economies possess stronger adaptive capacity during systemic disruptions. By integrating TSA-based accounting with resilience theory and structural demand composition analysis, the study advances sub-national tourism recovery scholarship in emerging economy contexts.
Kiran et al. (Sun,) studied this question.