THE COVID-19 IMPACTS ON THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS FROM EXPERTS IN PORTUGAL
Purpose - To better understand the impact of COVID -19 on the tourism sector, with a focus on the hospitality industry, and how these changes will affect the sector and business responsiveness. Design - This is research focusing on the COVID-19 impacts on the hospitality sector in Portugal. The s...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Faculty of tourism and hospitality management
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Tourism and Hospitality Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://thm.fthm.hr/images/issues/vol28no1/3_Almeida_Mesquita_Carvalho |
| Summary: | Purpose - To better understand the impact of COVID -19 on the tourism sector, with a focus on
the hospitality industry, and how these changes will affect the sector and business responsiveness.
Design - This is research focusing on the COVID-19 impacts on the hospitality sector in Portugal.
The study reports in detail how a group of experts perceived this critical situation caused by the
pandemic.
Methodology - For data collection, a focus group was conducted with six experts in the field. A
thematic analysis was conducted to interpret the data and NVivo software was used to organise
and define the themes.
Findings - Experts emphasised the massive collective dismissals in large hotel chains, the possible
loss of 50 million jobs in the tourism sector, and the negative impact on the entire value chain.
The low occupancy rate had a negative financial impact, as total revenues
in the sector plummeted by more than 70% compared to the previous year.
This pandemic required significant adjustments from operations to ensure safe operations.
Participants not only stressed the importance of motivating and bringing teams together, but
also described strategies to increase employee engagement. Another area of growth during the
pandemic was food delivery platforms.
Originality of the research - This is the first time research describing economic, financial,
organizational, operational, and technological impact of COVID -19 on the hospitality industry.
Hopefully these study results will help hotel and restaurant managers better plan their strategy
following this pandemic. |
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| ISSN: | 1330-7533 1847-3377 |