The Study of the Public Diplomacy Events Adaptation During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of the British Embassy Moscow

Current research investigated the adaptation of public diplomacy (PD) events of the British Embassy Moscow during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic struck, the traditional pattern of PD events was severely affected by the epidemiological situation, changes in the guests’ preferences and behaviour, and by the restrictions set by both Russian and British governments. Therefore, the PD event portfolio of the Embassy had to undergo adaptations to continue delivering on its objectives. Within the study, the traditional approach for the PD events was described and analysed using the service blueprinting technique. In line with the developed methodology, the semi-structured interviews, document analysis and participant observation data were utilised as the sources for qualitative analysis. The same approach was employed for the PD events that were delivered by the Embassy following the start of the pandemic. The supply and demand side restrains were identified and applied within the suggestions for the use of PD events in the pandemic recovery period. The study makes theoretical contributions to the literature in the field of online and public diplomacy events and provides range of managerial implications.