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This paper examines the local perceptions of travel and tourism resumption amidst the COVID-19 pandemic through the 'Phuket Sandbox' initiative. Opportunities and solutions for global travel and tourism resumption are discussed. Leveraging on the businesses, residents, authorities, visitors and environmentalists (BRAVE) stakeholders framework, interviews were conducted to obtain local stakeholders' perception of the resumption of tourism via the Phuket Sandbox initiative. Four broad categories of travel resumption are identified: resumption of domestic travel, bilateral travel, regional travel and unilateral opening up to inbound travel. The Phuket Sandbox belongs to the last category. Although different countries and jurisdictions have different considerations, priorities and approaches, this paper focuses on the pros and cons of the Phuket Sandbox model from the perspectives of the island's local stakeholders. Destinations can make reference to this particular mode of tourism resumption and decide if they have control over the conditions to replicate or adopt this form of tourism resumption.

The study investigates the impacts of Fintech services (such as e-payment service (EPS), Robo-advisory, Regtech service (RTS), and financing service (FS)) on millennial customer engagement (CE) in the context of the private banking sector of Bangladesh. It also examines the mediating role of trust between Fintech services and CE relationships. Data for this study were collected through a structured survey questionnaire from 294 customers (only Fintech users) of different private banks in Bangladesh. The convenience sampling technique was used to select millennial customers. SPSS and SmartPLS software were used for data analysis. The results exhibited that EPS, Robo-advisory, and FS positively impact CE, while RTS was found insignificant with CE. Besides, customer trust (CT) mediates the relationships among EPSs, Robo-advisory, and FSs with CE. Conversely, CT does not mediate the RTS and CE relationship. The study findings contribute to the substantial pool of knowledge in Fintech services, CE, and consumer trust. Remarkably, the mediating role of CT between the Fintech services and CE relationship is the unique novelty of this study and will enrich the existing Fintech literature from Bangladesh’s perspective.