INTRODUCTION
In 2020, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) anticipated that the pandemic would cause
reductions in the tourism revenue of a least US$22bn, and that travel would contract by up to
25% in 2020, resulting in a loss of 50 million jobs (WTTC, 2020). Further, the Unied Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNTO) anticiped that international tourist arrivals would decline
globally by up to 3% in 2020. This would translate into a loss of between US$30bn and US$50bn
in international visitor spending. The Asia Pacific region is expected to be the most affected, with
a decline of 9–12% in international tourist arrivals in 2020, down from a growth forecast of 5–6%
i early January (UNWTO, 2020). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates
global revenue losses for air passenger business of between US$63bn (11%) and US$114bn
(19%) (IATA, 2020). As noted above, the analysis by WTTC suggests that Asia Pacific will be the
most badly affected region with up to 49 million jobs at risk, representing a contraction of nearly
US$800bn in travel and tourism gross domestic product (GDP) (WTTC, 2020).
Difficulties affecting the hotel business during SARS-CoV-2 - 800-
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Negative impacts:
Investments and renovations
Hotels faced business drop and revenue losses as refunds increased, departure of foreign workers, loss of past
investments and increased expenditures from sanitizing equipment. Exceptionally, very few guests kept their
reservations as local and international airports were shut down. Despite the facilities managing to keep a few
guests, as they could not travel while others feared to move, the pandemic’s effects crippled operations, causing the
industry to function in survival mode. Hotels have canceled investments in renovations and the focus was on
pressing costs that facilitate the survival of the company.
Personnel
In addition, thousands of employees have lost their positions as hotels cut costs. Foreign staff members returned
to their respective countries and others were laid off as many hotels shut down their operations to minimize
expenses as the pandemic caused revenues to drop to negatives. Thus, hotels were unprepared for such a pandemic
and several have closed down while many others fear for eventual closure.
Finance
As the pandemic intensified, financial losses of the hotel industry continued, “The scale of the crisis in the hotel
sector is unprecedented. We hear many numbers but they are not consolidated so it is difficult to quantify” (I.11).
For our interviewees, the question remains open as to whether there is enough money to fund business recovery in
the future, especially if the pandemic were to last longer, as one might expect at the moment. I.2 believes that “the
need for additional funds is growing rapidly especially in the Middle East region, demonstrating the unique aspects
of the post-epidemic situation in this region.” So, with so many challenges to overcome, the recovery of the hotel
industry does not seem to be promising. Business recovery will still be negatively influenced by the pandemic, “Due
to the economic recession, shortened vacations and customers’ pervasive post-virus panic, it is less likely that a
business growth will occur after a slowdown in the pandemic”
Cost management
Both literature and findings from the interviews indicate that one of the most affected areas in the hospitality
industry is cost management. According to Hoque et al. (2020), most hotels were unprepared to deal with a
challenge of the magnitude of COVID-19 and have had to take actions to reduce costs. For the employees across the
industry, the impacts have varied from unemployment to seeking funding aid. Other hotels have been forced to
reduce the number of employees due to economic challenges caused by COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which started in Wuhan (China) in January 2020, has had a devastating and widespread
impact on travel, tourism and hospitality globally (Ivanov et al., 2020; Pillai, Haldorai, Seo and Kim, 2021). China’s
economic development was severely impacted by the pandemic, especially in the hospitality industry (Hao et al.,
2020). Major changes in consumer behavior triggered by China’s national lockdown initiative to contain the
spread of the virus led to a sudden and drastic drop in hotel room bookings, which the industry is still
recovering from today (Jiang and Wen, 2020). In the meantime, and while the lockdown was in place, hotels
were left with ongoing operating costs related to manpower and energy consumption. In addition, the threat of
COVID-19 triggered employee absences (Karatepe et al., 2021), leading to significant losses for hotels.
Gender (girls and women)
The fight against Covid-19 is not finished. The virus continues to circulate and the pandemic continues to
affect and kill people around the world, forcing governments who had been prudently and slowly
deconfining to recombine in order to curb the stubborn and deadly virus. In these conditions, it is very
difficult for the tourism and hospitality industry, a sector that is suffering greatly because of the sanitary
crisis, to resume, recover and continue playing the important role it has in boosting economies and
fighting against poverty that affects millions of people around the world, women and girls especially
(Aghazamani, 2018).
Indeed, and before the coronavirus, many women were making a living thanks to their involvement
in this industry as employees or business owners. They provided specific services to the tourism sector:
farming, organic farming, husbandry, fishing, craftswomen, tour guides, tour operators, vendors, kitchen
helps in hotels and home stays, housekeepers, hotel owners, grocery shop owners, and restaurant owners.
They were empowered thanks to their jobs, financial independence, improved social skills, self-
confidence and ability to make stronger decisions in their businesses, lives, homes, and played important
roles in their families, communities and countries (uonresearch). But the pandemic crashed headlong into
many of these women, stealing their jobs and landing them and all the people who depended on them for
their upkeep into abject poverty.
Businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry can and should play an important role in rebuilding the
tourism industry and sustainable destinations through women hotel service providers empowerment. Their
Corporate Social Responsibility programs will successfully help to achieve this goal. Many women who lost their
jobs in the industry won't get their job back because of the wider economic conjuncture. Some have found other
ways to feed their families because, in times of peace or in times of war, people need to eat. Some of them have
embrace farming, and are now producing and selling produce and organic produce. But because of intermediaries,
they aren't making good money from this new activity and continue struggling to meet their needs and that of their
families (UNWTO, 2020)
Unprepared – Do not have sufficient resources
In the ninth study, titled “Coronavirus: choking global and Indian tourism economy and leave
industry on the ventilator”, Sujood et al. (2023) analyze the economic crisis caused by the
coronavirus in the global tourism industry in general and the Indian tourism industry in particular.
The authors highlight strategies tourism businesses should implement to reduce the negative impact
in times of crisis. It also discovered the business opportunities offered during this deadly pandemic.
Based on a systematic literature review, the results show that the coronavirus has severely affected the
economy of the world and India. The pandemic has hit the economies that rely most on tourism, and
these countries must bear the brunt of the crisis' consequences longer than other economies. This
coronavirus outbreak indicates that the tourism industry was unprepared to deal with such a
pandemic, which has affected and damaged the economy.
In the eighth study, titled “Business strategies for small and medium-sized tourism enterprises during
COVID-19: a developing country case”, Kahveci (2023) explores how small and medium-sized
tourism enterprises (SMTEs) in a developing country (Turkey) are dealing with the economic and
financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic through a systematic approach. The authors
found that even after a year and a half of since the pandemic, despite government relief efforts,
vaccination programs, loosening of the lockdown and travel restrictions, survival is still the primary
concern of SMTEs. Also, the authors argue that although the entrepreneurs do not have
sufficient resources, they have energy and motivation, are optimistic about the future and are
exploring new opportunities, capitalizing on their “strategic flexibility”, an intrinsic strength of
SMEs.
The hotel sector following the worldwide pandemic: adopt
innovation or continue suffering losses? - 800-1000 words
Solutions:
Fiscal and monetary policies
In the third study, titled “Fiscal and monetary policies supporting the tourism industry during COVID-
19”, Şengel et al. (2023) examine financial policies implemented by countries to support the tourism
industry during the pandemic period. Data were analyzed using the MAXQDA qualitative analysis
program, and the authors found that countries financially support the tourism industry in terms of
credit and liquidity. In addition, investments in tourism are encouraged by tax incentives and low
interest rates. This investigation determined financial and monetary policies published by the
UNWTO focused on solving the problems of the tourism sector. The authors reveal some problems
experienced by tourist enterprises during the pandemic period with a holistic perspective.
Leadership
The study takes a qualitative approach using structured interviews and revealed that leadership challenges
included making customers and employees feel safe, optimizing operations, agility and leader resilience,
maintaining balance among stakeholders, managing employee stress and securing cash reserves. The
study results show that all industry stakeholders can shape the post-pandemic era through collaboration.
Empathic leadership can bring the industry out of chaos by balancing the interests of society's
various stakeholders
Knowledge management
The authors concluded that knowledge spillovers work as external benefits of knowledge creation,
increasing the innovation activities of companies in the hotel sector, which reinforces that knowledge
spillovers help to enhance innovation capabilities. The study shows that it is essential for companies to
manage knowledge and effective knowledge management facilitates the exchange of knowledge
necessary in the innovation process.
The use of technology
In the seventh study, “The crisis management strategies of Indonesian event organizers in the face of COVID-19”,
Haryono and Wijaya (2023) discuss the crisis management strategy for organizers of events in Indonesia in the face
of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors attempt to see how crisis management is implemented in the organization,
particularly the company's efforts to maximize technology in this COVID-19 crisis. The authors focus on how to
deal with crisis strategies in the Event Organizer world from the view of innovation diffusion. They identified the
use of technology as a means to overcome the problem of organizing events during the COVID-19 pandemic
and mapped the complexity of the innovation adoption process in event organizing companies in Indonesia.
Governments and other stakeholders need to help the hospitality and tourism economy develop a range of resilience
pillars to strengthen their competitiveness through various strategies. Big data and smart technologies are critical
in developing a systematic approach to develop resilience in order to respond and overcome the crisis more
effectively. Economic strategies should involve regional, national and international levels to regain their
competitiveness and ensure that tourism contributes to society. Global hospitality and tourism alliances should also
emerge to coordinate ecosystems to develop their resilience and competitiveness (Crotts et al., 2000). Many
governments worldwide realized how critical the hospitality and tourism industry is for the development of their
economies and welfare of their societies.
One of the motivating factors for the hospitality industry to adopt smart technologies is to reduce costs and
improve efficiency (Belanche et al., 2020b; Gretzel et al., 2015). In addition, customers generally tend to think
that robots can provide a more standardized service (Belanche et al., 2020a). During the COVID-19 pandemic,
robots were often given more dangerous tasks to deliver (Chuah et al., 2021), which contributed to a reduction in
customers’ perceptions of the risks involved, especially as regards infection (Romero and Lado, 2021). Therefore,
during COVID-19, a perception developed among customers that robots were able to offer better value in hotel
settings. In line with this, the following hypothesis was proposed: H7.
Post-COVID-19, the impact of hotel robot usefulness on attitudes increased, while ease of use on attitudes
reduced. This demonstrated that customers thought that the usefulness of the robot was more important than the
ease of use, which corresponds with the findings of Siderska (2021). Especially with COVID-19, robots as a
contactless service providers greatly reduces the perceived risk of infection (Romero and Lado, 2021). However, the
importance of ease of use on attitude decreased. Overall, the results suggest that the attitudes and behavioral
intentions of past and potential hotel guests toward robots and the services they can provide are changing
Post-COVID-19, more people used hotel robots and developed mor positive attitudes toward robots
due to their reducing the risk of infection (Romero and Lado, 2021). When people around the
customer hold more positive attitudes toward AI devices, customers are more likely to feel that AI
produces more benefits (Gursoy et al., 2019), and therefore believe that AI has greater value.
Guests will actively seek new opportunities to interact and communicate with robots (Tung and Au,
2018). The more extensive the customer positive engagement with robots, the more willing they were to
experience robots again. Also, the impact of perceived value on behavioral intentions increased. Post-
COVID-19, whether robots could provide efficient services greatly affected customer use intentions. The
intentions to use robots increased, which means that customer acceptance of hotel robots grew. This is
consistent with the findings of Romero and Lado (2021) that customers believed that robots reduced the
risk of infection within hotels, so the preventive effect of robots stimulated a higher willingness to book.
Guests who have used hotel robots before are more concerned about the ease of use of robots. With
the increasing popularity of robots, more customers have used robots.
For hotel managers, this research has demonstrated that people’s acceptance of robots increased after
COVID-19 and the pandemic has accelerated technological innovation. Therefore, more hotels should
consider deploying robots to reduce the risk of infection post-epidemic, and also as an attraction to attract
customers. Gender and age levels affect the acceptance of robots, so hotels need to establish customer profiles
based on customer characteristics and provide customized services for different guests. Deploying robots in hotels is
only the first step. More importantly, robots should be more attractive and useful for customers. This depends not
only on the appearance and programming of robots, but also on the service environment in which they operate
(Choi et al., 2021). When customers have more positive attitudes toward robots, their intentions to use them are
stronger. Therefore, hotel managers should implement a series of measures to enhance customer attitudes
about robots. For example, pleasant demo videos can familiarize customers with digital services and lower the
barriers to technology adoption (Choi et al., 2020). Demonstration videos watched before operating robots will
increase positive attitudes toward their use.
Encouraging and training
Hotels and restaurants can successfully help to improve their situation by encouraging and contributing to create
cooperatives of hotel service providers and by training its members to produce and deliver quality and
healthy produce to hotels at good price thanks to the negotiation skills they have learned. This move will
eliminate the intermediaries between women farmers and consumers.
Organizations like Equality Tourism are already supporting women farmers to organize themselves into
cooperatives and enjoy its benefits. Hotels can support this kind of organizations and effectively contribute to
rebuild the tourism industry and to the sustainable destinations recovery. By empowering women hotel service
providers through their training and support to their cooperatives, hotels will better serve their customers who are
only going to do business with people who care about their health and safety, take care of Mother Nature when
farmers are trained, they know how to farm in a sustainable way; they don't load produce with chemicals and don't
poison the soil and the environment, and give back to the communities where they live and operate. Such move can
be and will always be a good marketing tool to attract and win customers' heart to their destination and improve
people's lives, the lives of the communities they live in and do business with.
Governments must also create conditions for women in the hospitality and tourism industry to bounce back by
integrating a gender dimension into tourism policies and solutions to the Covid-19 because the crisis isn't
affecting men and women, and women in the industry the same way. Women in the tourism industry have
specific problems created mostly by gender imbalances and solutions provided by governments will not yield the
expected results if they do not take into consideration the ways in which inequalities have made women more
vulnerable to the impacts of the crisis.
The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), in collaboration with the Food Safety and
Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) initiated a dedicated training programme in response to the pandemic to help
hospitality and tourism firms across the country to address the issues arising. This and similar initiatives prompt
others questions such as: What innovative training practices is the industry adopting to better manage its operations
during the pandemic? What is the emerging of role of hospitality industry training programmes such as the ISO
14001 and the CIEH Environmental Management Certificate? Training and development can facilitate an
opportunity to expand the knowledge base and address performance gaps in the workplace, and so, in the
current situation, formal staff training on important Covid-19 protocols and the provision of a healthy,
inclusive experience for hotel guests is important. Gupta and Sahu (2021) explore various innovative training
programmes used by hotels in India to better manage guest and employee interactions during the pandemic. They
also discuss the role of contemporary training programmes in enhancing customer experience and customer loyalty.
Integrated strategies (cut costs, communication, transparency-based plans, online capacity
development for employees, safety and health measures, reopening strategies)
The analysis of the adjusted strategies of the hotel during the crisis and management decisions shows the different
approaches hotels adopted. Due to the decline in revenues and booking cancellations, many hotels minimized their
expenditures through close monitoring of costs. However, they were careful not to jeopardize their elite standards
in the process. Management also ensured all their staff took their annual vacation days to reduce expenditure
in addition, measures such as freezing bonuses and incentives entitled to staff members were taken. Notably,
22 participants claim that their hotels adjusted their room and menu prices according to the market demand.
These steps enabled them to curb expenses and eliminate extra costs. Based on the possibility of closure of the
premises, numerous hotels increased the count of their security personnel and maintained close
communication with their agents. Many other measures were taken to facilitate and ease the reopening once
the pandemic is under control. Moreover, hotels set task forces to work on the reopening strategies as the
lockdown became imminent. Similarly, maintaining close communication would aid the entities in promoting
involvement as the institutions focus on updating the 2020–2021 budgets. Therefore, the current strategy for
hotels focuses on staying safe, minimizing costs and working on the reopening phase. “During the crisis, our
strategy was to stay safe, not to risk the health and well-being of our staff and keep communicating positive
messages on our social media” (I.15). “I think that all hotels adopted the same plan: cutting costs and try to make the
appropriate decisions to guarantee the staff safety” (I.11).
Technological shifts
The pandemic has had a significant impact on consumer attitudes and buying behaviour, and
technology is playing a wider role by creating newer ways for consumers to explore personal
aspirations (Accenture, 2020). There is a visible shift in workplace behaviour relating to Covid-19,
which mandates hotels to accommodate different guest needs. Can technology help to revive hospitality
operations? What innovations have been adopted by Indian hospitality firms in response to the pandemic?
Recognizing that industry must innovate to facilitate development and revival, the writing team focuses
on an exploration of the transformational strategies being adopted by the hospitality industry. As noted by
Sanjeev and Birdie (2019), information technology (IT) will revolutionize the way businesses operate
during the next decade. Digital transformation and innovative technologies are a key component of the
Covid-19 response, and Bharwani and Mathews (2021) investigate the tech-based transformation
strategies being adopted by luxury hotels in India to restore guest confidence and to frame a new normal
for hotel operations from the user experience perspective.
Profit management will be based on a mix of both short- and longer-term measures
In India, the hotel sector is currently witnessing 50% loan defaults (Business today, 2020), and the
consultancy firm Hotelivate notes that loans related to hotel real estate have significantly increased. Given
these developments, chief financial officers must consider the strategies needed to respond to the
situation. Due to the extent of the pandemic and its impact on the Indian economy, hotels are struggling to
maintain revenue and must find ways of enhancing occupancy levels to cover variable and semi-fixed
costs. Finance specialists have a hard road ahead, and they must formulate revenue management practices
and pricing models in response to this challenge. What then are the innovative practices that the industry
is adopting to better manage revenues? This and other questions are explored by Majumdar (2021) in
relation to short- and longer-term measures and practices adopted by Indian hotels to restore revenues,
conserve resources and attain greater operational and cost efficiency amidst the Covid-19 crisis. In
essence, a broader mix of short- and longer-term measures will be needed to revive the dramatic
contraction in revenues that has occurred.
Improvements in service blueprinting can help to enhance customer satisfaction
As the global environment is dominated by health concerns, hotel operations needs to re-gain guest
confidence by meeting or exceeding expectations relating to the provision of a safe and secure
environment. The pandemic raises some important questions: Has it prompted a permanent change in
consumer behaviour? Will some services/products lose their appeal? What are the emerging trends, and
what are customers willing to pay for? What emerging initiatives or innovative services have been
adopted by the Indian hospitality industry to fulfil customer expectations? According to a report by
Accenture, the cost of poor customer service could be as high as US$1.6tn for any organization
(Accenture, 2016), and hotels are implementing both functional and experimental innovations in the area
of customer services. In this, replication of functional innovation by competitors is easier as compared to
experimental innovation, and it is important to understand the fundamentals of exceptional customer
service, its benefits and strategies to prevent and, where necessary, recover from service failure. Pandey
and Kulshrestha (2021) re-visit the hotel services delivery process in the context of the pandemic to
reframe the hotel service blueprinting approach.
An increased focus on the implementation of sustainability practices
Mehta and Sharma (2021) investigate the significance of sustainability in the Indian hospitality
industry and find that it is likely to be more important in the post-Covid-19 era. The study also
investigates the attitudes of employees and guests to the implementation of sustainable practices in hotels
and the role of the government in helping to facilitate the adoption of sustainable practices supported by
regular training, audits and support packages. The impact of sustainable practices is, in fact, already
noticeable, and the study observes that industry is playing a key role by broadening the deployment of
sustainable practices to local community environmental protection. It is thought that this will, in time,
become a key driver of sustainable growth and profitability for hotels.
Modifications and technological enablement in housekeeping
Covid-19 has certainly impacted the global economy, and travel and tourism has been badly affected.
Looking to respond constructively to this situation, the Indian hospitality industry is trying hard to
strategize new policies, practices and initiatives for economic re-activation. Sharma and Kaushik
(2021) explore the impact of Covid-19 on hotel housekeeping practices and the adoption of higher
grade technology in housekeeping departments. They also reassess the changes occurring in standard
operating procedures in response to the pandemic, especially as they relate to housekeeping departments.
