Purpose

This paper aims to examine developments in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic using the hotel sector in the North-East of England as the area of study. The country has attracted a lot of attention not only because of its importance as a tourism destination but also due to its rather controversial management of the pandemic at least in its early stages.

Design/methodology/approach

Fifteen semi-structured interviews based on ten open-ended questions were conducted with North East of England-based hotel managers of international brands on the level of their hotels’ preparedness to effectively deal with pandemic cases. The interviews took place in August and September 2020 with participants kept anonymous.

Findings

Meeting new operational and bureaucratic requirements added to the cost structure and proved a major challenge for managers who saw their hotel occupancy rates and revenue collapsing within a short period of time. Innovative and aggressive pricing strategies were introduced to lure especially younger travelers in the absence of business clientele. Staff were made redundant and/or asked to work overtime making effective human resource management very difficult.

Originality/value

This is one of the first research attempts to highlight the importance of the COVID-19 pandemic for the hotel sector in a major region of the UK. The paper also attempts some generalization by discussing managerial implications and suggesting a possible way forward for the hotel sector. Developing resilience by building on previously used successful business practices proves of essence.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 后时代的旅游业：来自英格兰东北部酒店的证据

目的

本文旨在以英格兰东北部的酒店业为研究领域，研究 COVID-19 大流行期间旅游业的发展。该国吸引了很多关注，不仅因为它作为旅游目的地的重要性，还因为它至少在早期阶段对大流行的管理颇有争议。

设计/方法/方法

与位于英格兰东北部的国际品牌酒店经理进行了 15 次基于 10 个开放式问题的半结构化访谈，了解他们酒店有效应对大流行病例的准备程度。采访于 2020 年 8 月和 9 月进行，参与者保持匿名。

发现

满足新的运营和官僚主义要求增加了成本结构，对于那些看到酒店入住率和收入在短时间内崩溃的管理人员来说，这是一项重大挑战。引入了创新和激进的定价策略，以在没有商务客户的情况下吸引特别是年轻的旅客。员工被裁员和/或被要求加班，使有效的人力资源管理变得非常困难。

原创性/价值

这是首次尝试强调 COVID-19 大流行对英国主要地区酒店业重要性的研究之一。本文还通过讨论管理影响并提出酒店业可能的前进方向来尝试进行一些概括。通过建立在以前使用过的成功商业实践的基础上发展弹性证明了本质。