scholarly journals How do hotels in developing countries manage the impact of COVID-19? The case of Lebanese hotels

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 929-948
Author(s):  
Laurent Yacoub ◽  
Samer ElHajjar

Purpose Many researchers have attempted to outline the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the growth of economies across the world. Few researchers consider addressing the COVID-19 pandemic as a crisis that needs effective crisis management measures. In particular, there is a gap in research that maps a way forward that managers can use as a guide to recover and revive the hospitality industry after the pandemic. This paper aims to fill this gap. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through interviews with 26 hoteliers managing 4- and 5-star hotels in the city of Beirut. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings Findings show that the level of preparedness toward dealing with such a pandemic had been low. Hotels have been focused on ensuring transparency with the employees, providing adequate information and decentralizing power to the departmental levels to deal with the impacts of COVID-19. Operationally, hotel managers are shifting focus toward more safety-conscious operations across all departments; emphasizing the importance of local tourists rather than complete dependence on foreigners as a source of revenue; increasing flexibility in bookings and cancellations to incentivize customers. Shifts are expected to be made, making operations in hotels more technologically-aligned and focused. Research limitations/implications The aim of this study is to address the managerial reactions of the hotel industry during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and the potential strategic approaches that hotels might adopt in the future. A focus on the Lebanese context can provide scholars with a new model and inform managers on how to approach a crisis of such nature and magnitude, especially in a country that is facing its worst political and economic crisis. The main challenge of this paper is that it examines the hotel industry only in the Lebanese context. The development of the hospitality sector cannot be studied outside the institutional context in which it operates. Originality/value This paper fulfills an identified need to study to which extent hotel managers were prepared to deal with a crisis the size of a global pandemic, what shifts in strategies were implemented and what is the future of the hospitality industry?

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-152
Author(s):  
Marvin J. Cetron ◽  
Owen Davies ◽  
Fred DeMicco ◽  
Mohan Song

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to continue to forecast trends in the hospitality and travel industry with practical implications.Design/methodology/approachThis study is the updated version of our previous list of trends. The new edition updates the previous report on the implications for the hospitality industry of major trends now shaping the future. We focus mainly on energy, environmental and labor force and work trends and discuss sub-trends under each trend. We then implicate how the trends affect the Hospitality and Travel industry.FindingsWe shared implications under each sub-trends.Originality/valueThe value of this article is to analyze the impact of the environment on the Hospitality and Travel industry from a macro perspective. For each trend, we implicate an estimate for future trends. We hope this article sheds light on the prediction of the Hospitality and Travel industry.


Author(s):  
Rajeshree S. Pol ◽  
Hemraj Patil

Although the development of hotel industry can create new job opportunities it is often criticized that the hotel industry provides low skilled and less paid jobs. If todays students are going to be the hotel managers of tomorrow its important to understand their perceptions about hotel jobs. This paper focuses on final year students who have completed their industrial trainings and are ready for placement in hotels. The study finds that the students respondent neither favorable nor unfavorable towards the hotel jobs. The findings also show that there is willingness to work in hotel related jobs or study further about hospitality industry. Though the impact is debatable, a students negative work experience during the industrial training can influence their image of hotel industry.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Anuj Sharma ◽  
Parul Kochher

Subject Area General Management, International Strategic Management, International Marketing and Brand Management. Study level/applicability MBA (General Management), MBA (Marketing), Management and executive development programme. Case overview The Indian Hotels Corporation limited known as the Taj Group was set up by JRD Tata in 1903. The company has undertaken a long journey since then. It is one of the most recognized hotel brands in luxury market segment of the hotel industry. Off late some micro- and macro-level changes in the business environment have not been in favor of the group. The strategy of international expansion in acquiring and refurbishing of assets has mounted the debt and the growing losses. What has compounded the growing troubles is the entry of aggressive multinational brands in the luxury segment of the hospitality industry. The group prioritizes to get its financials in order. It thereafter needs to rework on its competitive strategy and take advantage of the booming domestic hotel industry for profitable future growth. Expected learning outcomes Expected learning outcomes are as follows: to understand the impact of expansions on the top line and the bottom line on the hospitality industry; to understand the impact of expansion on brand image for the legacy brand; to understand and develop strategies for a company which make it profitable in the hotel industry; and to formulate entry and exit strategies for companies dealing in the hospitality industry. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS: 11: Strategy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 579-590
Author(s):  
Jessica Keech ◽  
Maureen Morrin ◽  
Jeffrey Steven Podoshen

Purpose The increasing desire of consumers for socially responsible luxury products combined with fluctuating supplies in consumer markets are leading various industries to seek alternative sources to be able to meet the needs of its customers. One possible solution that may meet the demands of the future is lab-grown products. Because these products confer multiple benefits, this study aims to investigate the most effective ways to appeal to consumers by aligning the benefits of the products with their values as marketers seek to find effective promotion for these items. Design/methodology/approach We examine the effectiveness of an ethical positioning strategy for two types of luxury lab-grown (synthetic) products among high versus low materialism consumers in three experiments. Findings Findings suggest that a positioning strategy stressing product ethicality is more effective for low materialism consumers, whereas the strategy is less effective, and may even backfire, for high materialism consumers. The impact on social status consumers perceive from a lab-grown product explains why this effect occurs among low materialism consumers. Therefore, marketers should take caution and use specific appeals for different segments based on values such as consumers’ materialism levels. Originality/value If lab-grown products represent the wave of the future, it is important to understand how consumers will respond to this emerging technology and how promotion strategies may enhance their evaluation.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitja Janža ◽  
Joerg Prestor ◽  
Simona Pestotnik ◽  
Brigita Jamnik

The assurance of drinking water supply is one of the biggest emerging global challenges, especially in urban areas. In this respect, groundwater and its management in the urban environment are gaining importance. This paper presents the modeling of nitrogen load from the leaky sewer system and from agriculture and the impact of this pressure on the groundwater quality (nitrate concentration) in the urban aquifer located beneath the City of Ljubljana. The estimated total nitrogen load in the model area of 58 km2 is 334 ton/year, 38% arising from the leaky sewer system and 62% from agriculture. This load was used as input into the groundwater solute transport model to simulate the distribution of nitrate concentration in the aquifer. The modeled nitrate concentrations at the observation locations were found to be on average slightly lower (2.7 mg/L) than observed, and in general reflected the observed contamination pattern. The ability of the presented model to relate and quantify the impact of pressures from different contamination sources on groundwater quality can be beneficially used for the planning and optimization of groundwater management measures for the improvement of groundwater quality.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
P.R.S. Sarma ◽  
Aalok Kumar ◽  
Nishat Alam Choudhary ◽  
Sachin Kumar Mangla

PurposeThis paper aims to develop supply chain strategies for the fashion retail supply chain (FRSC), likely to be disrupted by the current pandemic (COVID-19) under physical and online retail stores. The resilient retail supply chain design is proposed under budget allocation and merchandise capacity constraints.Design/methodology/approachThis paper utilises the theory of constraint (ToC) and goal programming (GP) to address the COVID-19 impact on FRSC. The budgetary and capacity constraints are formulated with a constraint optimisation model and tested with six different priorities to deal with the physical and online stores. Next, all priorities are developed under different FRSC business scenarios. The ToC-GP-based optimisation model is validated with one of the Indian fashion retail supply chains.FindingsThe proposed optimisation model presents the optimal retailing strategies for selling fashion goods over physical and online platforms. The multiple scenarios are presented for developing trade-offs among different strategies to maximise the retailer's merchandise performance. This paper also highlighted the strategic movement from high merchandise density stores to low merchandise density stores. This implies a reduction of sales targets and aspiration levels of both online and physical fashion stores.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed model is validated with one of the fashion retailers in India. Other nations or multiple fashion retailers might be considered for more generalisation of findings in the future.Practical implicationsThis research helps fashion retail supply chain managers deal with consumer demand uncertainty over physical and online stores in pandemic times. Limitation: Other nations or multiple fashion retailers might be considered for more generalisation of findings in the future.Originality/valueThis is the first study that considered the impact of COVID-19 on the retail fashion supply chain. The effect of physical and online platforms is mainly discussed from consumer marketing perspectives, but an inventory and resilience perspective is missing in earlier studies. The role of merchandise planning is highlighted in this study.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 268-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepak Bangwal ◽  
Prakash Tiwari

PurposeThe hotel industry suffers from retaining its employees, and to retain their employees is a big challenge to the hotel industry. So, the purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship between workplace design features of hospitality industry with employee job satisfaction and their intent to stay through empirical validation.Design/methodology/approachAs per the objective of the study, three hypotheses were proposed based on a comprehensive literature review on workplace design features of the hospitality industry. The proposed relationships were examined by using structural equation modeling approach with AMOS 18 as prescribed by Hair et al. (1998).FindingsSignificant evidence was found in favor of proposed hypotheses. The result of hypothesis testing showed workplace design features of hospitality industry to positively influence employee’s intent to stay through job satisfaction.Originality/valueWhile the employee satisfaction and commitment has been a significant research topic for more than decades, barely any research has been conducted that focuses specifically on workplace design features of a hospitality industry. This study tries to make a link between workplace design with the employee intent to stay through employee satisfaction. These links are rare from an Indian perspective.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Walker ◽  
Beverley Lloyd-Walker

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore recent literature on the impact of changes in the workplace environment and projected trends through to the year 2030. This allows the authors to identify and discuss what key trends are changing the nature of project organising work. The authors aim to identify what knowledge and which skills, attributes and experiences will be most likely valued and needed in 2030. Design/methodology/approach This paper is essentially a reflective review and is explorative in nature. The authors focus on several recent reports published in the UK and Australia that discuss the way that the future workforce will adapt and prepare for radical changes in the workplace environment. The authors focus on project organising work and the changing workplace knowledge, skills, attributes and experience (KSAE) needs of those working in project teams in 2030 and beyond. The authors draw upon existing KSAE literature including findings from a study undertaken into the KSAEs of project alliance managers working in a highly collaborative form of project delivery. Findings The analysis suggests that there is good and bad news about project workers prospects in 2030. The good news is that for those working in non-routine roles their work will be more interesting and rewarding than is the case for today. The bad news is that for workers in routine work roles, they will be replaced by advanced digital technology. Research limitations/implications Few, if any, papers published in the project organising literature speculate about what this discipline may look like or what KSAEs will be valued and needed. Practical implications This paper opens up a debate about how project management/project organising work will be undertaken in future and what skills and expertise will be required. It also prompts project managers to think about how they will craft their careers in 2030 in response to expected work environment demands. This will have professional and learning implications. Social implications The issue of the future workplace environment is highly relevant to the social context. Originality/value This paper is about a projected future some 12 years onward from today. It bridges a gap in any future debate about how project organising jobs may change and how they will be delivered in the 2030s.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Brochado ◽  
Paulo Rita ◽  
Ana Margarido

Purpose This paper presents an analysis of the impact of current technologies on customer experiences in upscale hotels and assesses the potential of the latest technologies for enhancing customers’ stay. Design/methodology/approach A two-step approach was applied in this study. The qualitative phase included an examination of upscale hotel websites, interviews with hotel managers and an internet search regarding the latest technological innovations in hotels. In the quantitative stage, a questionnaire was developed for hotel guests, generating a sample of 310 valid completed questionnaires. Findings The results reveal that hotel guests value digital involvement in their hotel experience. Moreover, business travellers and younger generations give greater importance to latest technologies. Originality/value This study analyses the most innovative technologies, providing guidance for hoteliers wishing to upgrade or implement new technologies. Based on the findings, hoteliers can achieve greater differentiation by offering the most important and latest technology to guests, enhancing their experience and attracting new customers, which can potentially lead to increased revenues. The study’s results are also important because they include the perceptions of both managers and customers.


Author(s):  
Sara Sarwari ◽  
Samina Huq ◽  
Tanvir Ahmed Minar

The recent pandemic named COVID-19 has led to a worldwide panic as a consequence of its deadly nature. This pandemic has a catastrophic impact on the hospitality area, one of the world’s largest sectors that changed the employment opportunity of relevant people. The research investigates the impact of COVID 19 on the hotel industry, more precisely, on luxury hotels both in the global and Bangladesh perspectives. Furthermore, the research also examined the business recovery possibilities with the sustainability of this hotel industry in a dramatically changed world of post-COVID-19. Secondary research methodology as well as content analysis are used here to compile various information from published sources. In conclusion, this study will help to take precautions and apropos plan to recuperate any unavoidable circumstances in the future.


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