Abstract
This study examines the intersection of financialization and the pandemic’s impact on the tourism sector. When financialization extends beyond unproductive or service-based transactions, it can serve as a strategic response to crisis conditions. This research specifically investigates financialization as a shock absorber for tourism firms in Asia-Pacific emerging markets during the pandemic. Employing a time-varying difference-in-differences approach, the analysis utilizes a panel dataset of 80 tourism firms from five Asian countries within the pandemic period. The findings indicate that financialization provides a mechanism for safer returns amid volatility, transforming geographical spaces into profit-oriented strategies for tourism firms in Asian emerging markets. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the time-varying effects of financialization on tourism firms in Asia-Pacific countries during the pandemic.