Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction.

1.1      Background of the Study

1.2      Research Rationale

1.3      Research Question.

1.4      Aims and Objectives.

1.5      Significance of the Research.

Chapter Two: Literature Review.

2.1 Introduction to Literature Review.

2.2 Main Body.

2.3 Conclusion to the literature review.

Chapter Three: Research Design and Methodology.

3.1 Research Approach.

3.2 Research Philosophy.

3.3 Research Method.

3.4 Tools and Techniques.

3.5 Data Analysis.

3.5.1 Identifying Research.

3.5.2 Sampling Strategy.

3.5.3 Research Timeline.

3.6 Validity and Reliability.

3.7 Research Limitation.

Chapter Four: Findings.

Chapter Five: Discussion.

Chapter Six: Conclusion.

Recommendations.

Reference List 

Appendices.

Appendix -1.

Appendix -2.

 

 

Chapter One: Introduction

The advancement of services and the diversification in income have witnessed growth in the innovation of the business as a response to the pandemic. Especially the growth of automated service operations and increased transformation have been the growth drivers for increasing capacity and customer satisfaction. In the hotel industry, physical interaction and personalization are very important and the advancement in technology has helped in meeting the requirement which also reduced the commission fees and the fluctuations in the demand (Sima et al., 2020).

There is much research which has been done on crisis management but currently, all of them are using a single approach for acknowledging variations in duration along with scale and crisis. Due to the nature of the approach and the lack of testing along with the focus on tourism rather than being on hospitality The other specified approach does not provide a sufficient recommendation about how a crisis is to be handled.

 

1.1 Background Of Study

For the research, the topic chosen is the Covid-19 crisis response in the hospitality and tourism sector: a case of Hilton London Metropole. The topic has been chosen to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality and tourism sector of the world there have been many existing materials that have published the impact of the pandemic on various other sectors but there is very less number of research done on hospitals and tourism. To gain knowledge and improve a better understanding of the specified subject the topic has been chosen so that it will have a great impact on the stay holders of the travel and tourism sector.  

1.2 Research Rationale

The hospitality sector has been drastically impacted by the pandemic and although the pandemic has affected badly neither the income nor the supply could be overseen. To understand the subject matter completely few judgements need to be made and adopting the research has the aim of examining how the hospitality sector handled the effects of the coronavirus.  The industry that contributed to employment and GDP is majorly the tourism and hospitality industry therefore it is very important to justify the concepts related to the same. 

1.3 Research Question

What are the impacts of the pandemic that have been faced by Hilton Hotel Metropole?

How were the communication and the protocols adopted to ensure clear and transparent communication with the stakeholders of Hilton?

Does Hilton Hotel have a team for the management of crisis so that they can manage short-term liquidity impact and initiate appropriate countermeasures?

Is the organisation successful in the implementation of the changes that were imposed by the government regarding protocols?

 

1.4 Aims and Objectives

 

Aim of the Report

The research in is to analyse and enhance the knowledge about what impacts the crisis of them have brought up for the hospitality in the tourism sector and how the industry of Management recovered from the endemic by making use of appropriate strategies of Management the case study of Hilton hotel reflects London metropole will be discussed as an example.

Objectives

To analyse the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality and tourism sector

To evaluate the strategies used for recovering from the crisis.

To study the methods and management strategies used by Hilton Hotels to overcome the situation of the crisis.

1.5 Significance of the Research

The pandemic had a disastrous impact on every industry because of this almost all industries are still struggling to overcome the losses. In the research work, Holi the issue of the organisation that has been chosen will be discussed along with the management systems methods that have been adopted to overcome the main focus of the research. In this research, the crisis of recovery will be discussed in the context of the hospitality and tourism sectors. That have been very minimum papers and articles that were published regarding the recovery and the management of the pandemic so to fill the gap this research work has been conducted so that the crisis management of the travel and tourism industry will be studied. The Hilton chain has been chosen for conducting the research work.

Chapter Two: Literature Review

 

2.1 Introduction To Literature Review

According to Metz et al., (2020), Customer relation defines the rate of the business organisation that can make the customer stay loyal towards the brand for a specific period. Customer retention is also stated as the capability of a particular organisation to ensure that their buyers are true customers and they will keep visiting the organisation repetitively, by this behaviour the buyer and the customers become dedicated towards the organisation and the brand and avoid switching from one to another. The pandemic spread quickly and it resulted in an increased fatality rate. It also resulted in having a bad impact on the health system as the impact was significant even on the financial and economic position which eventually contributed to major financial troubles throughout the era of the pandemic. One of the industries that were impacted majorly was the tourist sector as many of the countries are dependent on the industry for employment as it is the economic driver of the nation.  

2.2 Main Body

 

Crisis management and sales.

According to Obrenovic et al., (2020), Crisis management is the most common strategy that is highly used in the corporate world which has the motive of helping the organisation to deal with any crisis that has impacted in harmed the organisation. The process initiates with planning a strategy and then implementing the same by keeping the available resources into consideration. Crisis management has the aim of reducing the crisis so that the performance of the company and its reputation can be protected. The existing materials stated that how that is a connection between the idea of crisis management and the culture of the organisation which has been developed by making use of an action research approach.
 

The customer attention and the crisis in the hospitality industry.

As stated customer retention is the ability of a particular organisation to hold the customers and avoid and protect them from switching organisations to another and this process is called customer retention (Sun et al., 2020). The field chosen organisation that majorly studies the Hilton Hotel Sheen has the same that in the period of the pandemic, the strict lockdown was imposed and the moment of travellers was stopped. Because of the rules and regulations of the Government and the restrictions the organisation suffered a major reduction in sales and lost its customers. This is how the organisation face the negative impact of the pandemic on its customer retention. The primary cause of the negative impact on the sector was total shutdown and lockdown across the globe. The factors which affected majorly were the closure of borders and the people were required to stay indoors and Street rules and regulations regarding closer and locked on this maid because of which the tourist destinations were closed and there was no business in the tourism and hospitality industry. The restrictions on travelling and safety advisories were issued nationally and internationally.
 

The pandemic and the hospitality sector.

It wasted that the pandemic had a major effect on the health crisis along with the restructuring of the economy because social economic factors were also affected due to the epidemic. There was a major drop in the demand from domestic and international customers as many countries were forced to have various rules and regulations along with the restrictions.
 

Crisis management of the hospitality industry.

Phase 1: Pre-event and early symptoms.
The initial phase of the saving strategy was one of the common practices for being prepared for the crisis that was adopted by many of the hotels. As stated by Bai and Ran, (2022) Hotel groups were a lot of the crisis and they quickly suspended and retrieved the investments which were to be made in new projects so that the investment would be reduced. The Hilton hotel change applied an acid light policy which was regarded as selling real estate and protecting the management of the properties. Therefore the hotel was expecting short-term returns and cash flow in compensation for the profit loss and saving energy was the major purpose of the organisation. They did this by ensuring certain factors such as things up for working capital and improving the efficiency of the business along with making renovations and non-essential things.
 

Phase 2: Emergency
By the time the epidemic became apparent money hotels faced cancellations in booking and they also immediately adopted a survival strategy by cutting the cost. Many hotels at a popular started reducing the staff and increasing unpaid leave so that the outsourcing services would be reduced. As stated by Bakar et al., (2020) The regulations of the government had a motive of operational procedures and demand at the same time and they also adopted certain guidelines to reduce the concerns of the customers by enhancing the safety training of their employees, especially in the operations of restaurants. Also, the Hilton hotel intensified its efforts of lobbying with the support of the government which was very essential for it to overcome the crisis.
 

Phase 3 crisis.
In this period the policy and the restrictions of log down were lifted and restricted in the majority of the countries with certain exceptions. Therefore in such a situation, the managers had very limited control and they could take only strategic options which were the transformation in the services or hibernation. The current team regulation of 14 lay was mandatory which slightly opened a window for opportunity for a hotel such as Hilton that had many rooms and staff along with the safety standards (Scholz et al., 2020). In the valley period, a small portion of hotels was also used for the people who were homeless or the medical staff because the hotels were transformed into COVID care units.

The strategy of hibernation was developed at various levels which had a theme of service changes and the hibernation strategy included keeping minimum operations by reducing the staff for temporary closing. However, the reduction of staff is not a sustainable management strategy because it devastates the impact of the worker and results in difficulty in recruiting the scale and highly advanced labourers in the phase of recovery.  In the countries that are developed stimulating packages were launched that included wage subsidies along with reductions and tax and flexible loans which allowed the managers of the hotel to reduce policies in salary instead of layoffs. However, Mr seems strategies were not applied in every country.

According to Madeira et al., (2020) to improve the cash flow of hotels many hotels provided the option of takeaway and delivery services for the local community that not only promoted the sale through various vouchers but also increased utilisation. Large hotel chains suggest Hilton and Marriott invested a lot in their branding through various corporate social responsibilities that included free accommodation for the health workers and the frontline workers along with charity donations. Online marketing campaigns for also run by these hotels which included the virtual experience of the road along with cooking classes and interior design lessons so that the majority of the population would be attracted. The hotels that had strong cash reserves utilised the time of the lockdown for the expansion of their premises.
 

Phase 4: Recovery.

When the cases started decreasing the travel restrictions of the government lost which resulted in the travel demand for travellers and quickly bounced back to the main force for the recovery of the hotels. The recovery strategies included targeting domestic tourism that imported staycation and offers and packages for the international travellers so that the risk perception of the tourist would be reduced and the coordination between the government and the hotel would be such that it will motivate the travellers to travel from one corner to another.

According to Mohan et al., (2021), The pandemic has been the fast-track innovation of business through automation and diversification. The automated service process such as contact list checking and check out along with service orders would be digital and digital menu control but developed by the organisation. Digitalisation enables all hotels to reduce physical interaction and risk by providing each customer with personalized care so that customer satisfaction will be enhanced.
 

Phase 5: Resolutions

After the crisis has taken place the normal return but it would return in parts that are likely to change. In countries where the pandemic is in control, the hotel industry has adopted many strategies such as waving the money and continuing in saving strategy so that more options can be explored for the efficiency of technology and making innovations in the hotel.

Claim that the existing literature is not sufficient to develop policies for increasing the retention of customers.

There are many research papers and existing sources that have been published regarding the issue of the pandemic and its impact on various industries. It has also been analysed that there are many less number of research papers available for a particular sector and a particular organisation. Eventually, Hilton Hotel has its franchise which is distributed all over the world and since it is an international chain it has a large impact on the organisation but the possibility of happening is very low which is viewed as a situational crisis and a dangerous event. As a result, the operation of an organisation and its performance can be affected. Further in a situation like this crisis management strategy proves to be beneficial for reducing the harm to the organisation. Therefore the primary topic of the research is analysing disaster management and how it helps in influencing the structure of the organisation.
 

2.3 Conclusion to the Literature Review

It is highly required for a hotel such as Hilton to have a customer approach so that the research could have been more explained so that its functions and crisis management would be analysed. It is very important to appreciate and identify the effects of certain challenges and how they criticise the organisation and to comprehend overcoming any such issues. The term crisis is referred to a low probability and high bearing that results in risk and threat along with the economic system in different organisations. It possesses the character trait that also results in preserving the methods of decision-making and belief.

 

Chapter Three: Research Design and Methodology

3.1 Research Approach

The detective approach has been chosen for conducting the research work because the approach involves reasoning of top to bottom approach. The reasoning in the deductive approach is from general to specific and the detective approach for used majorly for obtaining the data.
 

3.2 Research Philosophy

The philosophy chosen for conducting the research work is realism. Realism philosophy is defined as attempting to highlight the actual scenario rather than taking a fake scenario and avoiding natural events. Realism philosophy was used to develop and obtain knowledge and information which is based on existing materials (Hjørland, 2021).
 

3.3 Research Method

The chosen research method for conducting the research work is a mixed research approach as it includes the qualitative and quantitative methods of research for completing the research work. Quantitative research was required for including facts and figures and qualitative analysis was used as a secondary source of information.
 

3.4 Tools and Techniques

The sources that were used for collecting data include existing information, surveys and questionnaires.
 

3.5 Data Analysis

For conducting the research work qualitative and quantitative research methods have been chosen.

For primary research, the data was collected by making use of Google Forms.
 

1. Has the Covid-19 crisis affected the tourism and hospitality industry?

95.2% of the participants felt that the tourism and hospitality industry has been affected by the pandemic and the rest 4.8 were not sure about it.

 

2. Has the hospitality industry applied appropriate measures to overcome the post-pandemic crisis?

81% of the participants felt that the hospitality industry adopted appropriate measures while 9.5% didn't agree with it and the rest 9.5% said they are not sure about the answer.

 

3. Did Hilton have a well-coordinated and standardized communication system and protocol to ensure clear and transparent communication with all stakeholders?

85.7% of the participants felt that they have a transparent and clear communication system and 14.3% didn't know about their crisis management.

 

4. Has Hilton hotel ensured the well-being of their employees and the safety of their productive assets in the event of a crisis?

85.7% of the participants said the hotel ensured appropriate safety measures for the employees but the other 4.8% of the participants didn't agree to it and the rest 9.5% were not sure.

5. Have you visited the Hilton Hotel after the pandemic?

75% of the participants visited the Hilton hotel but 25% of them did not.

6. Did Hilton adopt appropriate strategies post-covid to overcome the loss of the pandemic? 

According to 91.7% of the participants, the hotel adopted appropriate strategies post covid to overcome the laws but according to the rest, they did not adopt appropriate strategies.

7. What were the strategies adopted by the Hilton Hotel?

33.3% of participants think that the strategies that were adopted by the Hilton hotel included attracting customers through discounts and offers and another 33.3% felt there was a change in the operational work and the rest of them thought this strategy was mainly inclined towards digitalisation.

8. Are the strategies consumer-friendly?

83.3% of the participants felt that the strategies adopted by the hotel are customer friendly while the others felt are not.

9. In your opinion, was the operating and managing of the Hotel better pre-pandemic or are the post-pandemic strategies better? 

56.5 that is the majority of the participants thought that the strategies of the hotel were good before the pandemic and 43.5% thought it was better post-pandemic.

 

10. Has Hilton Hotel provided any sort of coupons or offers post-pandemic? 

According to 70.8% of the participants the hotel provided coupons and offers post-pandemic others said they did not.

 

11. How much will you rate the strategies adopted by the Hilton? 

 

The majority of the participants gave a 5-star rating to the hotel, while 33.3% gave a 4-star rating, 20.8% gives a 3-star rating in the rest of them give a two-star rating.
 

3.5.1 Identifying Research

To scatter information various techniques such as group discussions and an interview were taken into consideration and existing material such as journals and public records was discussed and evaluated for obtaining appropriate information.
 

3.5.2 Sampling Strategy

Random sampling method was used for conducting the data and the sampling included the primary data which targeted the tourists.
 

3.5.3 Research Timeline

Activities and timescales
Activities to be carried out during the project	How long will this take?
Milestone 1: Introduction	2 weeks
Milestone 2: Data collection	6 weeks
Milestone 3: Data analysis	8 weeks
Milestone 4: Discussion	10 weeks
Milestone 5: Report making	12 weeks
Comments and agreement from the tutor
Comments by Tutor:
Agreed:
Name of the Tutor: KHONDOKAR FARID	Date:

 

3.6 Validity and Reliability

The resources that were used for obtaining information were reliable and valid because various keywords such as the pandemic and hotel industry, crisis management at Hilton hotel and many others were used for obtaining information. The accessibility of each article and book was checked so that the information would be valid and reliable (Puente-Díaz, 2023). It was ensured that the latest sources would be used for the information and that the statistical data would be updated.
 

3.7 Research Limitation

The limitation of the research is the information is obtained from previous sources. The research method used for conducting the research is mixed research which might impact the accuracy of the results.

 

 

Chapter Four: Findings

The findings that have been analysed by conducting research on the Hilton hotel and its impact include certain important factors. The crisis can be managed if appropriate steps are taken in the selected time frame and a focused team would be available for resolving the situation by making appropriate responses. The foremost response that was taken by the Hilton Hotel was to create a workshop that had various executives present in the workshop (Ordóñez et al., 2019). The senior management workshop was produced to ensure that all the communication demands would be met and it also was conducted in regard to the stakeholders so that the requirements of the stakeholders would be completed by following a particular protocol. Prevention was not something that could be protected because the negative impact of the pandemic was already set on the health and hotel yet various prevention methods such as hygienic practices and safety measures were adopted. The leadership style that was adopted for overcoming the negative impact was the open leadership style that was adopted for tackling the issue (Yalç?nkaya et al., 2021). Hilton Hotels adopted various situations such as a video wellness program on a daily basis so that the visitors would know about the measures taken by the hotel. Artificial intelligence creates a major rule and a key driver in the Hilton hotel because it connects various visitors and reduces personal interaction (Seo et al., 2021). Public contact was reduced with the help of automation with simplification and a reduced risk-free environment. The Hilton hotel was able to meet the requirements of the customer along with obeying the restriction rules and mitigating the chances of public contact it also used various strategies as compared to its competitors. Highly advanced and automated services were adopted by the hotel to overcome the laws and maintain the trust of its customers.

 

 

Chapter Five: Discussion

Any crisis is regarded as a risky event for any organisation because it has a major influence on the entire organisation which also interrupts the operation activities and the supply chain management. it is the responsibility of the organisation to ensure the crisis is managed appropriately so that it won't affect the working of the organisation. The pandemic was spread in a very short period of time it increased the facility frame and it had detrimental effects on the health of the majority of the population across the globe which played a negative role, not only in the economic condition but also in the financial condition of the world. Do hospitality and the tourism sector were majorly affected by the pan to make since all the borders were closed and restrictions were adopted which restricted the travellers from travelling from one place to another. All the tourist places were shut down and the tourist attractions were much more difficult because of factors such as economic hardship to place and the condition of the employees was stagnant which eventually created a large void which could not be filled as it contained economic losses (Orîndaru et al., 2021). The damages of the endemic were source substantial that it took a large amount of time to overcome the laws and the structure of the organisation with affected badly.

In the hospitality industry, one of the major problems that were faced by Hilton Hotels is the turnover of the staff. It is very necessary for such organisations to mitigate the issue by reducing the turnover rays and it can affect and balance the loss only then. One of the major solutions that were adopted by Hilton Hotels was enhancing the trust between the organisation and the employees. There were some key elements that were showcased by the Hilton hotel and its Crisis Management which involved adopting tactics for managing the business without making use of manpower. Hilton was able to meet the demands of its customers because it adopted appropriate measures.

 

 

Chapter Six: Conclusion

The development of innovation in the business in regard to the pandemic has not just automated the service but also resulted in revenue diversification. State-of-the-art automated service was adopted to manage operational activities that increased noticeably. Many features included digital Manus and mobile operator applications along with technological control and internet service order which made the operational activities easy because it also reduced the risk and followed the safety protocol. Artificial intelligence was used and with the help of these technologies, the hotels were able to survive the post-pandemic situation and or now able to offer personalised service which eventually also boosts the satisfaction of the customer and lowers the risk of physical contact (Van et al., 2020). The innovation in the models of the business has also attracted attention because subscriptions and premium account distribution techniques are majorly used across all hotels nowadays. The crisis management of the majority of the hotels has become a size-fits-all strategy because it considers factors such as length and scope along with its effect. The objective of the research is to start a discussion about the development of sophisticated crisis response to the pandemic in the hotel industry and the research work has done a great job of reviewing the literature and defining all the necessary requirements.

 

 

Recommendations

Crisis management is a framework which is majorly based on strategic planning that balances the effect of any crisis. For Hilton Hotels it was necessary to discuss an evaluation of how the hotel managed the crisis. The major motive of any process of crisis management includes figuring out the ways that can be taken into consideration for mitigating the issues. For certain organisations, it is very tough to study the crisis and it has been analysed that the hospitality industry has lost around 4.5 trillion dollars which accounts for 49.1% of GDP.

 

 

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Appendices

Appendix-1

 

Appendix-2