How the hospitality industry reacts to COVID-19: structural, managerial and tactical factors

Abstract

This paper investigates hoteliers’ short-term recovery strategies during the pandemic. Stemming from management crisis theory and the resource-based view of the firm, this article focuses on two environments differently hit by COVID-19, i.e. London and Munich. The findings show that hotels with a more managerial approach have more proactively applied dynamic pricing strategies. When dealing with high severity levels of the pandemic, hoteliers make use of a more streamlined booking portfolio to cope with the crisis. We provide theoretical implications and actionable managerial levers for hoteliers and the wider pricing community on how to maximize revenues during the pandemic.