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The current corona virus outbreak has far eclipsed the SARS pandemic of 2002–2003 in terms of its effect. Worldwide, there are more than 10 million instances of the Corona virus, and the number of documented fatalities from the illness has exceeded half a million (Farzanegan et al., 2021). To get an idea of the scope of this epidemic, considering how infected even leaders and celebrities like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had previously issued a dire warning for British residents to prepare for a possible loss of life, were infected by the virus (Kaushal and Srivastava, 2021). Its rapid spread mirrored that of COVID 19, prompting the World Health Organization to issue travel advisories. The tourist and hospitality industry's vulnerability has once again been exposed by recent travel bans and cautions. Virus-infected vacationers aboard a cruise ship in Japan were isolated, but this was just the beginning of the current catastrophe.
Unwary vacationers were forced to isolate themselves while aboard ship due to the outbreak's alarming spread. The illnesses and deaths that happened on board were a portent for the future health of the delicate tourism and hospitality industries throughout the globe. Researches have often brought up the SARS pandemic of 2002 while analysing the threat (health crises) to the tourism and hospitality industry (Farzanegan et al., 2021). On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic is certain to come up often in the future. Tourism and hospitality industries are promoted by policymakers in order to boost the multiplier effect from the company.
Due to the present situation, travel restrictions have been put in place at both the national and international levels. There have been a number of precautions taken to stop the spread of illness and discourage people from travelling, which has had an impact on tourism and hospitality. As the need for personal safety and survival has become more urgent, this industry has experienced significant declines in its use (Kumar and Nafi, 2020). As a result, holidays and hedonistic retreats have become less popular. Therefore, the researcher has opted to perform this investigation with the most important research question in mind.
1.2 Problem Statement of the Research
Estimates show that travel and tourism will continue to play an important role in the global economy far into the next decade. “The world economy grew by 9.3 trillion US dollars, with an explicit contribution of 2.9 trillion US dollars. As a result of travel prohibitions and restrictions enacted globally in an effort to slow the spread of the pandemic and keep it contained, the tourist sector has been struck particularly hard by the COVID-19 outbreak and had a 98% drop in May 2020” (Abbas et al., 2021, p3). According to data supplied by destinations, global visitor arrivals declined by 56% in the first five months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
Worldwide, the number of people who visited dropped by 300 million people. It's been a lot busier so far this year than it was in 2019. “According to export earnings, the country recorded a loss of 320 billion dollars in foreign tourist revenues in 2009, a decrease of more than 300 percent. During the period from January to May of 2020, arrivals in Asia and the Pacific fell by 60 percent” (Kim, Bonn and Hall, 2022, p3). Because of the present outbreak, the world economy's most important sectors have been subjected to unprecedented disruptions and a worldwide economic and health disaster. Thus, in order to address these problems regarding COVID-19 impact on hospitality and tourism industry, the researcher has considered this research study.
1.3 Research Aims and Objectives
1.3.1 Research Aim
Generally, the study’s primary aim is to effectively evaluate and examine the impact of COVID-19 on the UK based tourism and hospitality management and moreover, this study will provide the knowledge about how Premier Inn responses to this pandemic during their business operation.
1.4 Research Questions
The research questions for the following research includes:
1.5 Research Rationale
For a long time before COVID-19 impacted the world economy, the hotel business was growing throughout the world (Kumar and Nafi, 2020). Hotels have been hit hard by the epidemic, which has left them scrambling for a solution. Many hospitality firms have been forced to close temporarily as a consequence of various methods for relaxing the COVID-19 curve, and demand for those businesses that were permitted to continue operating has dropped significantly (Fotiadis, Polyzos and Huan, 2021). The worldwide travel and tourism sector suffered a $4.5 trillion loss as a result of the pandemic. This investigation is necessary if COVID-19 has an impact on the hotel and tourist businesses.
As a result of the pandemic's devastation on these sectors, the study's findings fill in the knowledge gaps left by prior studies that failed to provide precise and trustworthy data. As a result, the researcher will be able to better explain the future interpreted data of this study to students and other researchers in the field in order to gain their knowledge about this study topic (Kumar and Nafi, 2020). This study also gathered the most important, effective, and relevant information from various sources, including the impact of COVID-19 on hospitality and tourism industry worldwide and how the industry has responded to COVID-19, as well as the challenges that the industry is currently facing during this pandemic of COVID-19.
1.6 Research Significance
Hotels are seeking to find a solution to the outbreak's severity. A number of hospitality companies have been forced to shut temporarily as a result of different strategies for easing the COVID-19 curve, and demand for those businesses that were allowed to continue operating has declined dramatically (Radic et al., 2021). The epidemic cost the global travel and tourist industry $4.5 trillion in lost revenue. Whether or not COVID-19 has an impact on the hotel and tourism industries must be studied.
Earlier research that was unable to provide accurate and reliable information has left gaps in our understanding of how the epidemic has affected these industries, so the findings of this study fill those gaps. As a consequence, the researcher was able to better communicate the findings of this study to students and other researchers in the field (Strielkowski, 2020). According to press releases, this research also gathered the most relevant information from various sources, including the impact COVID-19 has had on the global hospitality and tourism industry, how the sector has responded to COVID-19, and the challenges the sector is currently facing during this pandemic of the disease.
1.7 Research Structure
Numerous variables will be considered throughout the course of the probe's course. Following are the sections that will be included in this research project. Next comes the literature review's second portion. Since a literature review is a study of the field's literature, it includes books, journals, essays, and theses. Academic writing should indicate the author's awareness and understanding of important scholarly literature on the subject at hand. After a thorough study of the available material, a conclusion is drawn. To avoid confusion with an academic paper, the literature review is now recognised as an academic paper. It may appear in a dissertation, thesis, or research paper. Providing a complete overview of pertinent research and debates is why literature reviews are so essential for students. The study's methodological component utilises a methodical and theoretical approach to data collection and analysis.
It outlines the steps involved in collecting, analysing, and interpreting the data. When doing scientific research, it is critical to use the most effective methodologies feasible. Following the plan, the next chapter evaluates all of the project's major findings and what they suggest, disclose, and imply. Facts and phrases as well as experimental data and observations are summarised in the outcomes of a study's investigation. Conducting research has many various methods and purposes depending on the kind of study being conducted. The Discussion is one of the last stages of research, in which the researcher presents, analyses, and evaluates his or her results. The report's conclusion serves to tie everything together and leave a lasting impression. At the conclusion, there is a section offering solutions for addressing the issues that were discovered in the research. Ending this part, there is a brief summary of probable future research initiatives.
2.1 Tourism in pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 Periods
Almost two years have passed since COVID-19 pandemic was declared. There have been around 145 million sicknesses in the recent year, according to Davahli et al. (2020). Despite an 85 percent recovery rate, almost 3 million fatalities have been documented. Before imposing lockdowns on their own countries, governments all around the world issued worldwide travel advisories, suspended international aircraft operations, prohibited large-scale gatherings, and postponed sporting and entertainment events (Kim, Bonn and Hall, 2022). Regulations permitted the limitations to be reduced over time because of the controlled conditions. Infrastructure, testing, reported cases and political consensus differed, but governments adopted the same fundamental minimum approach in terms of social isolation, cleanliness and the requirement to wear a mask when implementing their efforts.
Because of the dramatic decreases in GDP, the pandemic and the accompanying lockdowns had a considerable impact on GDP in most countries. Several industries were forced to re-evaluate their business structures and distribution systems when new working techniques were implemented (Fotiadis, Polyzos and Huan, 2021). As a result of the outbreak, the global travel and tourism industry lost $4.5 trillion. When compared to 2019 levels, domestic tourist expenditure dropped by 45 percent, while international visitor spending declined by 69.4 percent (Ye and Law, 2021). In order to stay afloat, the hotel industry appears to have little choice except to hunt for new revenue streams and reduce costs. As a direct consequence of this, nearly 61.6 million employments have been destroyed all over the world, and there is a chance that many more jobs may be lost before the industry regains its footing. Despite this, the industry continued to offer unflinching support to the medical profession and the governments affected by the pandemic for the entirety of the crisis.
Despite the challenges, guests received excellent service that was compliant with all applicable rules and regulations, as well as the highest standards of health and safety. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the hotel business has been severely affected (Thams et al., 2020). The implementation of the latter might result in increased economic activity all around the world and the creation of new jobs. Numerous occupations, sectors and sub-industries are expanding in tandem with the region’s economic development. In 2019, the travel sector supported 15.8 million employments in the United States, accounting for $2.6 trillion in total economic output and 2.9 percent of the United States GDP. According to these figures, travel and tourism have a significant impact on the economy of the United States as well as the worldwide economy.
There has been tremendous development in the hotel industry over the past decade, with an estimated 1.4 billion worldwide tourists expected in 2019 (Ye and Law, 2021). International arrivals to the United States are expected to surpass 1.8 billion by 2030, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO) (Huang et al., 2020). According to the research that has been conducted, tourism is the primary motivator behind the vast majority of human movement around the globe. Tourists are a worldwide phenomenon. Despite these cautious steps, the World Trade Organization thinks that the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in a $1 billion decrease in international travel. The only other way to discover new places and familiarise oneself with new people is to engage in activities that do not involve travelling. This is the only alternative to going on vacation. In the event that there are no routes and places that are free of illness and/or criminal activity, several options have been considered as potential solutions. Pandemic and epidemic news is among the most dreaded things a traveller may encounter (Huang et al., 2020).
A pandemic might put the residents of tourist hotspots at danger as well. Disease and pandemics have a negative impact on the tourism industry, or to put it another way, travel is a mechanism of distributing disease and pandemics More and more studies demonstrate the critical role that travellers play in the international spread of illnesses and pandemics. There’s nothing new about pandemics and epidemics in the tourism industry. A variety of crises have had an influence on and exposed global tourism over the course of several decades. A number of factors have had a substantial impact on worldwide tourism since 2000 (September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, SARS pandemic 2003, global economic crisis 2008–2009, and “Middle East respiratory syndrome” (MARS) outbreak)) (Fotiadis, Polyzos, and Huan, 2021). COVID-19 was defined by Fotiadis, Polyzos, and Huan (2021) as a dilemma of economically developed civilizations imprisoned by growth paradigms.
COVID-19-like viruses have been linked to urbanisation, environmental change, globalisation, modern capitalism, and agriculture, according to Huang et al (2020). According to Dube, Nhamo and Chikodzi (2021), the expansion and growth paradigms of the travel and tourist business may promote socioeconomic systems that allow for the rapid spread of viruses. This means that the industry is really encouraging the transmission of the virus rather than a means of controlling and preventing it, which is what it was meant to be. The travel and tourist business are also blamed for globalisation, waste, climate change, air pollution, and rapid economic growth throughout the world, among other things. Climate change is to blame for the epidemic, not travel, as was previously thought. To assist firms, acquire access to liquidity, embrace new health regulations for safe travel, and widen their markets, governments and industry are working together.
Government-imposed travel restrictions in well-known tourist hotspots throughout the world have had a significant impact on the hospitality sector (Baum and Hai, 2020). Hotels, cafes, and other businesses in an area designated as a tourist attraction would be forced to close their doors if there were no tourists or other visitors in the area. Hotel cancellations have returned to the norm following worldwide attempts to limit the spread (Thams et al., 2020). A higher degree of safety procedures was implemented at the destination, and most facilities were shut down or locked down completely to ensure the public’s safety at that time. The local hotel industry was unable to maintain itself due to a lack of domestic visitors. Businesses and activities were compelled to shut down as a result of stricter “stay at home” and “social distance” restrictions (Aigbedo, 2021). The restrictions imposed by the pandemic have led to a significant increase in the number of cancellations throughout the company as a whole and specifically in the hotel industry. Hotel occupancy rates plummeted as a result of the economic crisis.
Over the first few days of the epidemic, an astounding 90 percent of reservations were cancelled in Rome, although on the island of Sicily, the cancellation rate was closer to 80 percent during the same time period. By the conclusion of the decade, Spain had surpassed France as the world’s second most popular destination for tourists. France had previously held this position. The COVID-19 epidemic is anticipated to reduce foreign travel to the Iberian country by 70% by 2020. Following the closure of Covid-19, the UK government has implemented a variety of programmes, including the “Eat Out Help Program,” which helps restaurants fill the void created by the epidemic and provides financial assistance. A hotel’s commitment to protect the safety and well-being of its guests has been an intrinsic part of the hotel’s business model from its inception (Dube, Nhamo and Chikodzi, 2021).
As a direct result of the coronavirus epidemic, a significant number of hotels have been forced to close their doors; nonetheless, many hotel owners are already anxious about how they will fulfil their duty of care once their establishments have resumed normal operations. Businesses will be forced to comply with new regulations in the wake of the epidemic, and the public’s standards for health and safety will soar as a result. The worldwide travel and tourism sector is expected to be valued more than $700 billion by 2020 as a result of the coronavirus outbreak (Yeh, 2021). The global spread of COVID-19 has created a situation in the hotel business that has never been witnessed before. Due to the rapidly deteriorating state of the economy, it was anticipated that a great number of hotels would have to operate with a smaller number of employees, and it was possible that a great number of workers would have been given furloughs and would not have been required to go to work. The new Duty of Care requirements cannot be implemented effectively without cross-functional communication and collaboration.
2.2 Resilience of Urban and Industry of Tourism after Covid-19
The importance of urban resilience cannot be overstated in this context. Prior to focusing on the tourist and hospitality industries’ resistance to Covid-19 and other crises, we briefly explain this notion. Urban settings are becoming increasingly unpredictable, which has sparked academic and policy interest in “resilience” (Gong et al., 2020). Because of the variety of disciplines using the notion to investigate urban disturbances of all kinds, no single definition or static meaning can be assigned to the concept of resilience (Meerow, Newell and Stults, 2016). To put it another way, the idea of urban resilience is fluid and has a lot of “fuzzy” limits (Wardekker et al., 2020). Meerow, Newell, and Stults (2016) acknowledged the interdisciplinarity of urban resilience by synthesising previous conceptualizations to describe urban resilience as the competence of an urban system and all its core socio-ecological and socio-technical networks across temporal and geographical dimensions to sustain or swiftly return to desirable functions in the midst of a disturbance, to adapt to change, and to quickly reform systems that restrict present or future adaptive capacity (Ntounis et al., 2022).
A flexible definition allows for ‘various views and emphasis to stay and flourish’, they argue they note that the notion tackles six fundamental conceptual difficulties, the first of which is the question of what makes an urban area urban. The second aspect relates to the distinctions that may be made between single-state equilibrium (i.e., the ability to return to an earlier equilibrium, after a disturbance), multiple-state equilibrium (i.e., the shift from one stable domain to another, after a disturbance), and dynamic non-equilibrium (i.e., constantly shifting conditions with no one point of stability). Grinberger and Felsenstein (2014) address comparable conflicts in terms of ‘bouncing back’ (to a previous stable equilibrium) or ‘bouncing ahead’ (i.e., numerous potential new trajectories) after urban shocks. The third concept issue revolves around the question of whether or not urban resilience is a good notion when it refers to the process of returning to a condition that existed before to the disruption. The different “pathways” to a resilient state, such as persistence (i.e., resist disturbance, to maintain the status quo), transition (i.e., progressively adjust while keeping system function), and transformation, are the topic of the fourth type of conceptual conflict (When attempts to create resilience aim to transform an undesirable system). Adaptation to recognised dangers is one conceptual tension, whereas more general adaptability is the subject of the fifth conceptual tension. Finally, there is a conflict over time, with a general agreement on the significance of quick recovery following a disruption (Ntounis et al., 2022).
If the focus of the study is primarily on disasters that occur quickly, this may be contextually dependent on whether it is on more gradual factors (Meerow, Newell, and Stults, 2016) or if the focus is on the gradual weakening of the urban system like climate change or on unexpected “acute shocks” like Covid-19.
A lack of study regarding the influence of natural catastrophes on the tourist business has been found by Sydnor-Bousso et al. (2011). Travel, tourism and hospitality are all intertwined, even though they are distinct industries (Baum et al., 2020). The World Bank (2020) documents the devastation caused by Covid-19 on the entire tourism value chain, which includes airlines, bus and train companies as well as cruise lines and hotels and restaurants as well as tour operators and online travel agencies. Indeed, metropolitan locations that provide a wide variety of lodging establishments are popular with both local and foreign travellers (Postma and Schmuecker, 2017). In the context of the tourist industry, Buultjens, Ratnayake and Gnanapala (2017) described industry resilience as the capability of the industry to successfully cope with natural disasters and self-inflicted catastrophes in order to preserve stability while also guaranteeing the flexibility and diversity essential for innovation and future growth. In other words, industry resilience is the capacity of the industry to maintain stability despite the presence of natural disasters and self-inflicted crises.
A lack of industry resilience to severe external shocks has been shown in many research reporting the ‘crippling consequences of crises on tourism’ (Khalid, Okafor and Shafiullah, 2020; Chowdhury et al., 2019). A lot of study on tourism and hospitality business resilience has been done by looking at certain sorts of crises, such as climate change and natural catastrophes, economic collapses, and terrorist attacks (Becken, 2013; Chen, 2011; Aleffi and Cavicchi, 2020; Khalid, Okafor and Shafiullah, 2020). A growing body of research is looking into the effects of disease outbreaks, such as Ebola (Kongoley, 2015) and the SARS epidemic in particular. Travel limitations, quarantine regulations, the closing of borders and tourist accommodations, and the worldwide grounding of aeroplanes due to the Covid-19 epidemic have had a terrible economic impact on the tourism industry (Gössling, Scott, and Hall, 2020). Additional social impacts include job losses and furloughs due to labour-intensive tourism and hospitality industries (World Tourism Organization, 2020), with estimates that technology could perform a more essential role in a post-pandemic tourism world, which could lead to even more job losses (Gretzel et al., 2020).
Amplification of normal practises (such as faster enrolment and lay-offs of staff based on demand) and government schemes’ inability to confront the social security flaws of the workforce and communities wherein tourism is the main industry are the only effects of the pandemic on tourism and hospitality resilience, according to Baum et al. (2020). Pandemics, according to Jamal and Budke (2020), are anticipated to become more widespread in the tourist sector, necessitating increased coordination among industry stakeholders in order to prepare for and manage resilience. However, Niewiadomski (2020) believed that transitory de-globalization processes are providing the global tourism sector with a great opportunity for re-development in line with the principles of sustainability, for example, by providing options for more domestic “staycations” (Prayag, 2020). Similar to the global tourist system, this break might allow for a rethinking of how it works and a plan for a more sustainable future that is more democratic, inclusive, and offers more possibilities for social justice with less exploitation (Sigala, 2020; Carr, 2020; Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020).
There is, however, a dearth of research comparing Covid-19’s resiliency to that of the tourist and hospitality businesses. The tourism and hospitality industries in English town centres were examined for their resilience to Covid-19, and comparisons were made with other industries. This was done in recognition of Lew’s (2014) emphasis on the importance of context when researching resilience, as well as Fromhold-Eisebith’s (2015) more precise presumption that adaptability dynamics diverge between industry sectors. It also examines the views of resilience held by businesses, which may have a significant impact on the consequences of a disaster. According to Sands et al. (2016), in a society that is inundated with information, fear spreads quicker than any sickness. Furthermore, fear is what drives behavioural change, which in turn has an influence on the economy. Furthermore, Lankao and Qin (2011) emphasised that resilience is always in the midst of a power struggle, where winners and losers arise.
2.3 Impact of People’s Rights of Hospitality and Tourism in Responses to COVID-19
The expansion of hospitality, travel, and tourism throughout the world in the last 70 years has led us to regard these experiences as something we should be entitled to, if not a right. Traveling for pleasure is a privilege that is not available to everyone throughout the world due to a variety of factors such as political, economic, and cultural ones, as discussed by McCabe and Diekmann (2015). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) serves as a point of departure. Article 13 of the UDHR outlines the rights of all people to free movement within their own country as well as the right to leave and re-enter that country. Article 24 of the UDHR outlines the rights to leisure, restrictions on working hours, and paid vacations and holidays.
The two articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) advocate for the human right to travel and tourism, according to Jiménez et al. (2015). This does not mean that Article 24 implies the right to tourism-induced travel, as this would involve mobility that does not necessarily flow from the right to recreation time. However, Tourists have a right to be treated with respect in terms of their human rights, according to McCabe and Diekmann (2015). The right to achieve happiness as a reward for hard work, the right to free will and the right to be an individual, and the right to all of these things because they are fundamental to the idea of a free market economy in which developing relationships is critical are the first three. In many countries, food assistance programmes (soup kitchens and similar outlets) may help fulfil the human right to food (as stated in the International Covenant of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which was ratified by the United Nations in 1976). (Beuchelt and Virchow, 2012). Demand for these services has skyrocketed as a result of the current epidemic (Ellis, 2020).
Global political, economic, and social transformations are being prompted by COVID-19 on a scale that may be unparalleled in modern history. These changes will affect individuals in every country and every culture (Baum and Hai, 2020). Customers from the Global North who have had their travel privileges severely restricted will feel the most direct impact. Both individuals in the Global South and those in the Global North who work in tourism are affected. In point of fact, it might be argued that the impact on the labour force in the former is far more severe than in the latter since the former lacks the social safety nets that are generally available in more developed nations (Baum and Hai, 2019).
The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) aim of the right to decent work for everyone has been tested by the impacts of COVID-19 generated economic instability, which has led to massive layoffs of tourist workers, frequently with very little or no compensation. Baum and Hai (2019) state that this presents a challenge to the ILO’s ability to fulfil its right to decent work for all aspiration. For persons in the Global South’s informal industries, COVID-19 had a significant effect in terms of job and labour chances, according to ILO (2020). Because of the downturn in the global tourist industry, many of these individuals are today unable to find job. In the gig economy, where workers have little or no social security or employment rights, a large number of people are employed in a fictitious self-employment capacity. Concerns of a similar nature pertain to the precarious position of migrant labourers, both in terms of their susceptibility to contracting the disease (take Singapore as an example) and their rights to employment.
Several high-profile tourism firms have been cited in the media as acting without regard for employees’ legal rights to work. The present economic crisis has made it abundantly clear that employment in the tourism industry is unstable even in the best of circumstances (Robinson et al., 2019), and it has done so with a greater degree of speed than in other industries. To now, there is no word on whether the laid-off staff would return to work serving visitors after the situation has passed. In spite of the fact that the COVID-19 issue provided a threat to the rights of persons to travel as tourists, it is argued that there are some good effects that may benefit new kinds of tourism that arise in the aftermath of the crisis (Baum and Hai, 2020).
Trafficking of People
Human trafficking and the contemporary slave trade are expected to benefit from the closing of borders and the destruction of much air and land transportation, as its victims are frequently involuntarily mobile and share this mobility with tourists via train, ship, and rail travel (Baum and Hai, 2020).
Child Sex Tourism is Decreasing
Paedophile travellers’ ability to travel across the world and abuse on children and young people in child sex tourism hot regions in the Global South has decreased as the world has become less mobile. It is unknown at this time whether or not this will lead to an increase in the amount of bullying and harassment directed against young people on the internet. Such abuse is unlikely to be addressed by national and international bodies in the current context.
There is A b Connection Between Human Rights and Tourism and The Environment
At a time when many nations are facing the broader climate change challenge, the good influence on the natural environment has been a somewhat fortunate result of the virtual stoppage of travel and tourism operations as well as the decline in broader economic activity. This has led to a global decrease in fossil fuel usage and a decrease in the price of oil (Baum and Hai, 2020). The United Nations Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment outlines human rights in relation to the natural environment. These principles state that “our human rights are connected with the environment in which we live”. Human rights are threatened by environmental degradation, and the exercise of human rights contributes to the preservation of the environment and sustainable growth” (Human Rights Council, 2018). As an example of the immediate positive effects on the environment, reduced pollution in major Indian cities and the restoration of marine life to Venice’s canals have been observed (Millman, 2020).
2.4 UK Hospitality Sector’s Response to Covid-19
On the 23rd of March 2020, the United Kingdom implemented a countrywide lockdown. The British tourist industry, which employs 3.2 million people and produces 130 billion in economic activity in taxes, is regarded to be one of the worst hits (UKHospitality, 2020). 75 million jobs were put in jeopardy during the COVID-19 outbreak, mostly as a result of the expected 30% decrease in foreign tourism arrivals. According to Štimac et al. (2020), London Heathrow Airport (LHR) forecasts passenger traffic to drop by more than half in 2020 compared to its all-time high of 80.9 million passengers in 2019. Financial support of up to 25,000 pounds and credit lines surpassing one million pounds were made available by the UK government to small and medium-sized tourist firms who qualified. Despite this, a number of enterprises choose to lay off employees and/or declare bankruptcy (Bas and Sivaprasad, 2020).
It’s also worth noting that the UK government’s first response to the outbreak was criticised harshly by other countries who took a more conservative approach. The 73 percent and 79 percent drop in international visitors and expenditure may be due to the unfavourable publicity surrounding the UK’s pandemic management and the enactment of travel restrictions. In addition, domestic overnight stays are expected to decrease by 60% in 2020 compared to 2019 (VisitBritain, 2020). Because of this, the North-East of England’s economy was adversely affected, which is the studied area of this article There are nine administrative regions in the United Kingdom, which include Northumberland, Durham, Tyne and Wear and North Yorkshire in the north-east of England. Newcastle, Sunderland, and Durham are the three main cities in the area (Spanaki, Papatheodorou and Pappas, 2021).
Despite having the highest unemployment rate in the UK in 2019, it is considered one of the most inventive and extroverted regions of the country, accounting for 13.2 billion pounds of exports and 14.0 billion pounds of imports in products and services (Gebbels, Pantelidis and Goss-Turner, 2019). North-East England’s tourist attractions and enterprises combine to produce a wonderful travel environment, particularly in the city of Newcastle, which is a significant economic centre in the United Kingdom. As a matter of fact, the tourist industry in the North East of England contributes over five billion pounds to the local economy each year and employs over 66,000 people (North East Hotel Association, 2020). There were over 90 million visitors to the region in 2019, which is an increase over the previous five years. A total of 70 million pounds is spent annually by the area’s hotels, which provide 4,500 rooms. Nearly 11,000 jobs are affected by the hotels’ operations, which employ 3,400 people in the region (Spanaki, Papatheodorou and Pappas, 2021).
An estimated 200 million pounds is generated annually by hotels in the North-East of England; this figure rises to 616 million pounds when indirect, induced, and catalytic impacts are included (North East Hotel Association, 2020). Hilton, Crowne Plaza, and Marriott are some of the best-known hotel chains in the area. Hotel occupancy in the North-East of England area averaged roughly 76% between 2015 and 2018. Due to a shortage of long-term hotel investors, and because of Brexit, well-known hotel brands from the United States withdrew their activities and investment from the business in 2019. Up to 955 million pounds might be lost in the North East of England’s tourist sector due to the pandemic, according to the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (2020).
However, the overall impact may be worse, since 70% of local firms were forced to furlough their staff and 23% of them made the option to slash positions. Ending 2020, the region’s unemployment rate was predicted to hit 15%, which would be the highest level since 1971 (Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, 2020). Since the countrywide lockdown, a substantial number of hotels have either shut down or are operating at low occupancy rates. Many local events have also been cancelled, resulting in a decrease in hotel occupancy. The empirical component of the research discusses hotels’ confirmation of this bleak vision. In the final week of September 2020, the number of confirmed cases of COVID19 rose by 65 percent in the North East of England, making it the most severely impacted region in the United Kingdom (Murray, 2020). Furthermore, it was the first part of the country to go into lockdown after the second pandemic wave (Halliday, 2020).
3.1 Research Philosophy
The term “Research Philosophy” refers to the idea that the gathering, measuring, and application of relevant facts and information is the responsibility of the researchers themselves. Students must learn to interpret the research and concepts of a certain topic. Many research philosophies exist, including positivism, realism, pragmatism, and interpretivism (Kennedy, 2017). The researcher can adhere to the stated study method to a tee using these criteria. When doing research, the researcher selects a research philosophy while adhering to recognised methods. Interpretive philosophy, one of these methods, was chosen because it emphasises the individuality of each person and the diversity of opinions within society. In this idea, the worth of human comprehension of their surroundings is based on the fact that each individual has their own logical mental state, and so views the world differently.
Researchers have a specific role to play in understanding the social environment, according to this view. According to this research philosophy, the study is guided and influenced by the researcher’s personal interests and passions. Data may be viewed, assessed, and used as a phenomenon under the research concept. As stated by Žukauskas, Vveinhardt and Andriukaitiene (2018), positivist theory is generally accepted and accumulated in the western philosophical tradition as both interpretivism and positivism. Professional knowledge is bolstered and the trust in solid frameworks and segregation is reinforced by this positivist philosophy. As a researcher, you’ll employ the positivist mindset while assessing crucial facts and ideas. A variety of mental concepts and ideals were analysed using the mixed method methodology for this specific study, which improved the quality of the results.
Proponents of positivism believe that only information gained from observation (the senses), and especially measurement, can be regarded trustworthy. The researcher’s only responsibilities in positivist inquiries are data gathering and objective interpretation. There are no personal biases in the study since the researcher is impartial. Typically, the results of these investigations are recorded and made available to the general public (Kennedy, 2017). Empiricists, who believe that all knowledge comes from first-hand experience, are the foundation of positivism, a school of thought. Cosmic events and components are seen as discrete, observable entities that interact in a prescribed and regular manner on the ontological level. The impact of Covid-19 on the worldwide hospitality and tourist sectors will be examined using positivist philosophy.
3.2 Research Design, Methodology, Strategy
Many methods exist for doing research, each with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. As a result, it depends on the subject matter of the study. Qualitative research methods were used to examine the impact of Covid-19 on the global hospitality and tourism industries (Van den Berg and Struwig, 2017). It’s widely accepted in academic circles that the following method is a good one. Analysis of documents, such as reports and papers, and other items, had been completed. There are stated aims and usual findings for this study, however despite this, the research methodology utilised is largely subjective, comparable to industrial conceptions. It was with the use of this method that the impact of Covid-19 on the global tourism and hotel sectors was examined. Following this evaluation, it was concluded that secondary sources relevant to the subject area should be employed to conduct the study.
The following sample of research sources includes academic papers, academic literature, and personal communication, among other sources of information. Qualitative research is employed. Data processing in following research projects is frequently aided by the second strategy, as Woo and O’Boyle and Spector (2017) have already noted. You may benefit from learning how to do research in order to solve an issue. Methods and resources for doing research, as well as analytical tools and procedures, are taught in research methodology courses.
Researchers chose to conduct this qualitative examination using a case study approach. Many steps must be taken to construct a b research plan, from finding relevant data to doing data collection and analysis to deciding on the best study to answer a given research question” (Rutberg and Bouikidis, 2018). It is the primary goal of qualitative analytical research to find out what percentage of the population shares a particular characteristic, attitude, point of view, or way of thinking with another. When doing a research project, it is critical to know where the data came from as well as how it was acquired and handled (source, collection, analysis, interpretation).
Researchers are use qualitative methods to have a better understanding of what may happen. Observation and experimentation are crucial for academics to continue to explore the validity of both current evidence and new information. As they develop and assess their theories and facts, scholars must be capable of making use of direct observations as well as indirect experiments (Rutberg and Bouikidis, 2018). exploratory research attempts to acquire as much data as possible while still being anchored in empirical facts, and then synthesise it into new findings that reinforce well-known concepts. There should be no doubt that qualitative research relies heavily on secondary data to help researchers gain a better knowledge of the topic matter. Methods for this study included the use of qualitative research, which helped us to arrive at our results more quickly. Qualitative research has been conducted using data from secondary sources such as academic books, journal articles, websites, and other internet resources. International tourism and hospitality sectors and businesses have been examined in this research project.
3.3 Research Data Collection and Sampling
Secondary materials such as books, papers, reports, and journals will be analysed using primary qualitative and secondary research methodologies. The study will be conducted in this manner. Understanding the Covid-19’s influence on international tourism and hotel management might be aided by this. Researchers will also keep up with current news stories from a variety of media outlets in order to get data that is both true and genuine on the subject matter they have chosen for their investigation (Tate and Happ, 2018). Online internet web pages and sites, on the other hand, will be used to gather information regarding the hotel industry’s stagnation and decline throughout the pandemic era. In addition, all secondary sources investigated by the researchers will be thoroughly verified to guarantee that no misleading material is passed on.
Facts gathered over the internet are known as online facts. This method has gained popularity in recent years because to the abundance of online resources, both free and paid, that can be accessed with the click of a mouse. In addition to making the process of gathering records more efficient, the researcher must ensure that they are only relying on legitimate websites. Net is a digital aggregate of all diverse secondary research information resources in certain ways (Sherif, 2018). Researchers can also find useful research materials in the records of authorities and non-authorities, and these records typically include verified records that provide useful inside information on a variety of study situations. In many cases, the researcher is willing to pay a fee in order to have access to the data. As a result of a variety of factors, many records are no longer freely accessible. Some of such resources, for instance, are classified as data. As a result, it may be difficult for researchers to gain access to these individuals. Public and private libraries might be used to get more study materials (Anderson and Paulus, 2021). It is crucial to think of a library as a data storehouse that contains essential records that may be valid records in unusual research circumstances.
Public and private libraries frequently get several copies of educational research papers from experts. In addition, libraries collect and preserve company directories, newsletters, annual reports, and other materials that might be used for research purposes, such as those found in libraries. The five management of five multinational hospitality and tourist organisations will be interviewed as a research tool. Qualitative research methods rely on prior interviews and data gathered by recognised agencies to help a company understand its customers’ needs and devise a strategy to meet those needs (Majid and Vanstone, 2018). It also helps firms to gauge the level of employee satisfaction with organisational policies.
Typically, secondary research is the first stage in any methodical investigation. As a result, researchers may more easily detect prior research efforts and draw on that knowledge when devising a new study strategy. In order to develop a vaccination, the researcher may need to do study into the characteristics of the breathing environment (Anderson and Paulus, 2021). The best place to begin the investigation is by gathering current research material on the subject, which may guide the investigation in the right direction. The researcher can get insights about methodologies and findings from previous study by sifting through these bits of data, which can help the researcher describe their own research approach.
Secondary research helps students identify information gaps that act as a springboard for further study on their own. There will be no specific demographic targeted for data collection because the information on the hospitality and tourist business is to be obtained on a worldwide and generic basis. A basic random sampling approach is meant to provide an independent example of a collection. Choosing a sample from a larger population is significantly fairer since every member of the population faces the same risk of being picked. Though random sampling is expected to be impartial, sample-choice bias may still be present in the data. When a representative sample of the bigger groups is no longer large enough to represent the entire population, an illustration of the population is made.
3.4 Data Analysis
Data analysis is the process of preparing, examining, and displaying data in order to uncover useful information and make better business decisions. According to whether they are analysing quantitative or qualitative records, researchers will use different methods to conduct research. Increasing their knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research tactics and methodologies will make their reading efforts more fruitful, therefore it’s worth the time to let this new knowledge soak in for the duration of the course. A comprehensive analysis paper they can produce might boost their rating even further. Analysing data, on the other hand, can help explain why the worldwide hospitality and tourist industry has suffered as a result of the epidemic. The government and hotel owners that incurred financial and commercial losses as a result of the epidemic may use the information this would provide to their advantage in the future.
Due to a lack of cash and reserves, enterprises in the hotel and tourist industry have been forced to lay off a large number of its experienced and skilled staff on a monthly basis, as evidenced by the data analysis. Studying books, papers, journals, and reports as well as conducting interviews with managers of hospitality and tourist firms were used by the researcher to get the main qualitative data needed to analyse the secondary data (Kuckartz and Rädiker, 2019). On the other hand, descriptive and textual analysis would be used to examine the data. To organise disorganised text content information so that it may be well examined for valuable insights, text assessment, also known as text content analytics or information mining, makes use of devices learning with natural language processing. Qualitative evaluation involves more than just facts and numerical figures when it comes to text (Adu, 2019). Text analysis tools may filter information based on topic matter, extract important words, and evaluate for emotion and causation by transforming human speech into system-readable data.
Most information analysis begins with a simple descriptive evaluation. It is, without a doubt, quite useful for the creation of reports on sales and KPI dashboards (Lester et al., 2020). However, due to its focus on statistics and absolute numbers, it is well-suited to explaining how and why certain numbers increased. Using estimates of current facts, it is the simplest and most used kind of information assessment for defining, summarising, and discovering patterns. Inferential and descriptive statistics will be used to examine the numerical data. Quantitative descriptions give hard numbers. There is no longer an explanation provided for the reasons behind the data in the report. Before using descriptive facts, researchers should take into account which one is best and acceptable for their research question and what they want to uncover. When revealing the gender distribution of survey respondents, a percent is an excellent choice (Clark and Vealé, 2018). Detailed data is most beneficial when investigations are limited to a small group and are no longer trying to generalise to the wider population. Speculation checks and estimating theories are the most common methods for gathering inferential knowledge.
Studies investigating how much money female customers spend compared to male customers, or how much money people spend within different age groups spend heavily employ inferential assessment. When used to survey a small group of people, it is possible to extrapolate data about the population as a whole (De Block and Vis, 2019). Correct calculations for a representative sample of the general public are critical in this case. This is how the researcher examines the numbers and graphs relating to the total income losses incurred by the hotel and tourist business during the epidemic and lockdown two years ago. In addition to reading and evaluating numerous literary materials, secondary qualitative data will be analysed (Lester et al., 2020). But in order to undertake the primary qualitative study, five managers from five multinational hospitality and tourist firms would be interviewed.
On the other side, a thematic analysis of this interview might be used to analyse qualitative data. The researcher conducts a thorough examination of the documents to identify recurring themes, subjects, ideas, and ways of expressing meaning. Because theme evaluation is a part of an exploratory process, it is usual for the research questions to expand or even change as the evaluation progresses (Adu, 2019). Because it shows that facts need to be re-examined every time the research question is tweaked, this is common in exploratory investigations, but it may also be considered as a disadvantage. For want of a better expression, theme analysis might be time-consuming, but it is necessary. There seems to be value in considering this if a researcher decides to use theme analysis for his or her project and budgets additional time for unexpected changes. On the basis of results and conclusions generated from the interview and secondary data analysis, the findings will be addressed in relation to the key criteria (Clark and Vealé, 2018). On the basis of these findings, the conclusion will be drawn from the overall lessons learned and how they might be used in the future.
3.5 Research Ethics
Research ethics must be maintained if the study’s goals are to be met. To guarantee that the scientific goals of your study are satisfied, researchers must adhere to a rigorous set of ethical guidelines. Guidelines and ideas for getting the study’s purpose accomplished are part of the research ethics, which makes it easier for investigators to engage in many types of research processes. In most circumstances, performing a review of relevant literature using research ethics is considered to be the most ethical method (Roth and von Unger, 2018). To do research, you must meet three conditions. Furthermore, a sense of comfort and safety is conveyed. The findings of the inquiry were kept secret and shielded from inquisitive eyes and ears throughout the length of the study. To be on the safe side, it’s crucial to realise that even studies that have been independently verified might be misunderstood in a report.
Different research ethical criteria will be used to fine-tune the many strategies that were used to fulfil the study’s stated purpose. A lot of time and effort has gone into gathering data from various websites and establishing precise conclusions regarding the websites’ copyright authorizations (Roth and von Unger, 2018). The validity of experiments and the interpretation of their results can be ensured by adhering to accepted research principles and standards. Researchers must adhere to these criteria while devising their studies since the stated objectives of a study must meet specific ethical requirements (Barrow, Brannan and Khandhar, 2021). Ethical norms were strictly followed when collecting data. The findings of this investigation are likely to be heavily influenced by ethical considerations. If this component is lacking, research papers may not be accepted for publication. Research must be conducted in accordance with high ethical standards in order to be effective. In order to achieve a crucial objective, practitioners must adhere to specific ethical rules.
This study’s use of data from prior studies suggests that the researchers depended on past findings. The university library provides a variety of resources for students, such as easy access to class materials, seminars, and periodicals. The piece was published when the author’s rights to the work as an original work of art were upheld. A core objective must be pursued while adhering to certain ethical standards of conduct (Qamar, 2018). To carry out this investigation, researchers gathered and analysed data from previous studies conducted by specialists in the field. As far as they could tell, the university library had everything a student might need to finish their studies. The writers’ intellectual property rights were therefore safeguarded, and the material was duly recognised and returned in due course as appropriate. In order to ensure that the data and samples collected were reflective of the study’s greater scope, the researchers methodically planned and conducted each stage of the analysis. In the qualitative analysis that was chosen, the need of maintaining confidentiality was underlined.
4.1 Primary Qualitative Data
In order to conduct the interview, the researcher has involved 4 managers of Premier Inn hotel.
Q1. How COVID-19 impacted your organisation?
Interviewee 1: We were able to put an end to our operations during the COVID-19 epidemic thanks to the government's plan for nationwide lockdown. As the epidemic progressed, so did our organization's response to the shifting constraints, with an increasing number of firms being forced to shut temporarily.
Interviewee 2: Additionally, the COVID-19 epidemic has had a negative impact on our company's profitability and customer engagement. As a result, our company's revenue increased in early 2021 compared to spring 2020, reflecting these shifts as well. In May of 2020, we had a revenue of slightly over £1 billion, but in March of 2022, we had a revenue of £3 billion.
Interviewee 3: In reality, the COVID-19 epidemic has put a halt to our global supply chain and transportation. In the restaurant and mobile food service activities sub-sector, turnover in May 2021 was £3.3 billion, five and a half times more than it was in May 2020. This recovery was exceptionally robust.
Interviewee 4: Throughout the coronavirus epidemic, our organisation was one of the most severely impacted by lockdowns and government restrictions. It's hard to tell how Brexit has impacted us, because it ended just as the newest lockdown began, so it's hard to tell one from the other.
Q2. What kinds of initiatives have you taken in response to this pandemic?
Interviewee 1: Even after the hotel industry has been reopened, we have chosen to make adjustments to our firm that will make it less vulnerable to government limitations in the future. In addition, I have to think about how I might improve social distance and maintain a sterile working atmosphere as part of my business.
Interviewee 2: Responses to interventions and closures, in particular, have been terrible for us. Uncertainty is the primary aspect that is causing problems for my company. Many questions remain at this stage, such as whether or not a second outbreak of the illness will occur, and how long it will take to develop and make available vaccinations for the general population.
Interviewee 3: Because of the government's ambiguous and inconsistent policies, investors demand an equity risk premium and this may alter the weighted average cost of capital, which in turn affects companies' innovation efforts.
Interviewee 4: I've been stumbling about in the dark, trying to figure out how to handle the problem. Uncertainty was exacerbated by our penchant for making policy adjustments on a regular basis. Transparency is one way I can use to eliminate uncertainty and boost trust among our employees and customers. I must also supply as much up-to-date information as possible regarding the pandemic's progress in order to combat the inherent ambiguity surrounding its spread.
Q3. What kinds of challenge you have faced during this pandemic?
Interviewee 1:Our company has been faced with an unprecedented problem as a result of the epidemic. Temporary shutdown of our organization's commercial operation and considerable drop in demand for hospitality services have resulted from strategies to flatten the COVID-19 curve such as neighbourhood lockdowns, social distance, stay-at-home orders, travel, and mobility limitations.
Interviewee 2: The majority of our locations were instructed to restrict their business to exclusively food delivery. As a result of the government's restrictions on travel, hotel occupancy and income fell sharply.
Interviewee 3:A new wave of COVID-10-related problems awaits our company, and it's reasonable to assume that our researchers will devote their attention to finding answers for these problems.
Interviewee 4:Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, we've had to face new obstacles. When compared to prior crises, this one is unrivalled in terms of its destructive impact on business, workers, and consumers.
4.2 Secondary Qualitative Data
4.2.1 Impact of COVID-19 on the Tourism and Hospitality industry in the UK
"In 2018, 6.7% of the UK's total gross value added was generated by the travel and tourism sector". As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, travel to the UK and the rest of the globe will be severely restricted in 2020 and into 2021. Before a state-wide lockdown was declared on March 23, needless travel was originally discouraged in the UK on March 16. On March 17, the "Foreign and Commonwealth Office" issued a travel advisory urging citizens to avoid all but absolutely necessary international travel (Roberts, 2021). Operation in these sectors got simpler as restrictions were progressively eased, first with the opening of non-essential retail on June 15, followed by the installation of quarantine-free transport routes in July. The second and third English lockdowns, which occurred in November 2020 and January 2021, once again had an effect on travel, and on the 18th of January 2021, all travel was halted.
Abroad travel and tourism, provisional: April to June 2020 contains official statistics on trips to the UK by overseas citizens up to Quarter 2 (April to June) 2020. In the second quarter of 2020, visitors from outside the United States made 96% fewer trips and spent 97% less than they did in the second quarter of 2019. In April, foreign passenger traffic at UK airports plummeted to 1.9 percent of its February 2020 levels, before rebounding to a high of 36.7 percent in August and then decreasing again as a result of further restrictions, according to data from the Civil Aviation Authority (Ntounis et al., 2022). Because of the increased international restrictions, domestic passenger traffic declined in a same manner, albeit at a slower rate following August's high. While international passenger travel was more seasonal in 2019 than in 2020, the two categories of traffic have fared about identically in 2020, based on February 2020 numbers.
VisitEngland conducts a monthly study on hotel occupancy. With hotel occupancy at only 17 percent of available rooms, compared to 71 percent in the West Midlands the year before, the pandemic had a significant impact on every English area. Recovery has progressed at varying speeds depending on where people live. With barely 20% of hotel rooms filled in July 2020 compared to 90% in the same month of the previous year, it had the slowest recovery of any English area in the summer of 2020 (Spanaki, Papatheodorou and Pappas, 2021). Instead, Greater London had its best occupancy rate since January 2019, when it held that distinction for every month except one (August).
From a 19% occupancy rate in April to a 72% occupancy rate in August in the South West of England. It is safe to say that the summer season in 2020 in this area was closer to "normal" than any other in England after March 2020, and that this was due to an increase in domestic tourists. After the English shutdown in November, there was a significant drop in the proportion of English-speaking areas where tiered restrictions were in effect in October. Between September and November 2020, hotel occupancy in the Southwest dropped by 37%. A 11-percentage-point drop occurred over the same time period in 2019. The coronavirus (COVID-19) has had varying effects on different businesses (Dube, Nhamo and Chikodzi, 2021). As of May, travel and tourism enterprises had barely 26.0 percent of their February turnover compared to 73.6 percentage points for all other sectors. During the first nationwide lockdown, the most drastic drop in revenue was seen in the lodging and travel agency industries, with May revenues plummeting to 9.3% of February levels.
When regional lockdowns were placed on Premier Inn locations in October, Whitbread reported a loss of £725 million in the first half of its financial year and cautioned that reservations had stalled since. Hotels and pubs owned by the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre companies have been heavily struck by Covid-19, which resulted in a 99.999% drop in sales during the countrywide shutdown earlier this year. Whitbread's hotels and restaurants reopened in July and August and enjoyed a staycation boom, with good reservations for beach and classic tourist sites like Bath and Brighton (Kollewe, 2020). In August, the hotels in these cities were practically completely booked. However, in other locations, such as London and New York, tourists remained away in large numbers. In August, the average hotel occupancy rate was 51%; this rose to 58% in September, but has since dipped to 50% in October.
The Whitbread CEO, Alison Brittain, forecasted that occupancy will continue to drop in November and December after the implementation of tiered systems of coronavirus restrictions in England and Scotland and the firebreak shutdown in Wales. More than half of the Premier Inn's 840 hotels are located in locations where limitations have been imposed yet are still operating. It has made it easier for consumers to reschedule or cancel their reservations. This year's first half deficit of £725 million contrasts sharply with last year's $220 million profit (Ruan, Wu and Xu, 2021). From £1.084bn, revenues dropped to £250.8m. Its findings coincided with research from PricewaterhouseCoopers, which projected that even if a coronavirus vaccine is successful as anticipated later next year, it might take the UK hotel sector four years to recover to 2019 levels of business. The UK claims that the spike in hotel reservations in popular locations in August, when "anything with a mountain or a beach was packed," shows people are still eager to go.
After a pandemic, individuals will still want to travel and visit their loved ones. Up to 6,000 Whitbread employees may be let off in the UK, and the company sought £1 billion from shareholders in May to help stabilize its financial situation. Dividend payments have been halted, and management has received a wage reduction (Ruan et al., 2021). Whitbread has tripled its hotels in Germany to 21 in the first half, therefore the UK is placing its hopes there. Premier Inn's goal is to become the country's largest budget hotel chain by signing up 15 additional properties by the end of the year.
There are plans to slash as many as 6,000 jobs at Whitbread WTB.L's hotels and restaurants as the COVID-19 epidemic ravages both the travel and hospitality sectors as the British government winds down its employment assistance policy. As of Tuesday, the business claimed it has started a formal consultation process on the proposed layoffs, which would affect around 18 percent of its workers (Nadkar, 2020). At 0709 GMT, its shares were down by 2.9% to 2,047 pence. As a result of the epidemic, millions of dollars in business trips and vacations have been cancelled throughout the world.
To avoid the spread of COVID-19, the management team of Premier Inn should collaborate with local health authorities; hotel, restaurant and catering administration; as well as industry groups, in order to develop an action plan customised to the scenario. The team should help the health authority with case management and contact tracing, as well as minimising the impact on clients and employees (World Health Organization, 2020). It's possible to reduce occupancy rates if physical separation is difficult. There must also be procedures in place for employees to follow if they get ill. Staff and customers should be kept at least one metre apart at all times.
Hand hygiene, cleaning, and disinfection of high-touch surfaces in public spaces should be readily available to all employees. Any rooms inhabited by sick people should be cleaned and disinfected in accordance with the plan's specifications. Also included are rules for telework, screening procedures for employees arriving at work, and guidelines for safe recovery to the job of Premier Inn after treatment and recuperation from COVID-19 exposure (8,9). When new instructions, procedures, or rules are provided by relevant authorities, the plan should be revised accordingly (Mbise, 2021). The Premier Inn management team should dedicate sufficient resources to guarantee that the action plan is implemented consistently and effectively.
As part of an action plan, local health authorities should be consulted to design equipment and processes for the care of suspected cases and their probable contacts. "Action plan execution and effectiveness should be examined often to ensure compliance, identify and remedy deficiencies, and change the plan based on real-world experience." It may be helpful for management to enlist the assistance of a crisis team consisting of people from each relevant department in order to facilitate the execution of the action plan and the prompt identification of necessary revisions (Atasoy, Türkay and ?engül, 2022). Premier Inn's employee absences should be tracked and justified on a regular basis in order to recognise and react quickly to a potential COVID-19 sickness. It's a good idea to maintain a detailed record of all the crucial things it does in the wake of a suspected or confirmed case.
Use this diary to enhance the activities the organisation is taking. There should be clear communication between management and employees, particularly those in charge of the various divisions, in order to create a guest information policy in advance. Consistency and alignment may be ensured via the distribution of communication guidelines for employees. Implementing this strategy ensures that employees are up to speed on any potential issues and are able to quickly collect and deliver information about such occurrences (Chanyasak et al., 2021). There are steps that Premier Inn may do to keep its employees and guests safe from COVID-19 symptoms, including advising them to remain at home and seek medical assistance if they see any of these signs themselves. Premier Inn should hold frequent briefings on COVID-19 and its symptoms, as well as keep personnel informed of any new advances in the condition.
Chapter 5: Discussion
Through considering the entire interpreted data and information in the findings section, it becomes analysed that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly has impacted the organisational business operation of Premier Inn in both the domestic and in international market. Considering the interview response, it is highlighted that the COVID-19 outbreak has had a detrimental effect on the profitability of the business as well as the level of consumer involvement. As a direct consequence of these developments, the revenue that the firm brought in during the first quarter of 2021 was more than it had been during the spring of 2020. A little more than one billion dollars was the monthly income in May of 2020, while three billion dollars was our monthly revenue in March of 2022. In point of fact, the COVID-19 outbreak has brought a stop to our worldwide supply chain as well as international transportation.
It was five and a half times more than it was in May 2020 when it came to the turnover in the restaurant and mobile food service activities sub-sector, which was £3.3 billion in May 2021. This recovery was very b. Moreover, the collection and interpretation of secondary qualitative data also demonstrate similar knowledge. Generally, official statistics on abroad nationals' journeys to the United Kingdom from April to June 2020 are included in the preliminary data set on overseas travel and tourism. Visitors from outside the US made 96% fewer visits and spent 97% less in the second quarter of 2020 than in the second quarter of 2019. As a consequence of new limitations, passenger traffic at UK airports fell to 1.9 percent of its February 2020 levels in April, before rising to a peak of 36.7 percent in August and then falling again.
Since August's peak, domestic passenger traffic has decreased somewhat as a result of tighter foreign restrictions. According to February 2020 figures, international passenger travel was more seasonal in 2019 than in 2020, although the two categories of traffic have performed roughly the same in 2020. The South West of England went from having a 19 percent occupancy rate in April to having a 72 percent occupancy rate in August. During the summer of 2020, this location had a more typical season than any other in England following March 2020, and this was attributed to an increase in domestic visitors. The percentage of English-speaking regions with tiered limitations decreased significantly in October after the English shutdown in November. The Southwest had a 37% reduction in hotel occupancy between September and November 2020. When compared to 2018, there was an 11-percentage-point reduction in 2019. Various companies have been affected in different ways by the coronavirus (COVID-19).
When compared to all other industries, travel and tourism businesses only had a 26.0 percent share of their sales in February. The accommodation and travel agency businesses suffered the most during the first countrywide shutdown, with May sales falling to 9.3 percent of February levels. Furthermore, the discussion regarding the challenges that Premier Inn has been faced due to the outbreak also provide the most authentic information by collecting the data from the managers of Premier Inn. In this aspect, it is evident to say that as a consequence of the outbreak, the organisation has had to deal with a challenge never before seen. Strategies to flatten the COVID-19 curve including neighbourhood lockdowns, social distance, stay-at-home orders, travel, and mobility constraints have led in a significant decline in demand for hospitality services and a temporary halt of the organization's commercial operations.
It's fair to suppose that the researchers will dedicate their time and effort to solving COVID-10-related issues that are on the horizon. Premier Inn had to deal with additional challenges as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. By comparison, this crisis is the most devastating to businesses, employees, and consumers ever seen. In addition to this, Whitbread reported a loss of £725 million in the first half of the financial year as a result of regional lockdowns on Premier Inn facilities in October. Reservations have subsequently halted. Beefeater and Brewers Fayre-owned hotels and pubs were severely affected by Covid-19, which led in a 99.999 percent decline in sales during the national suspension earlier this year. With the reopening of Whitbread's hotels in the summer months of July and August, there was a surge in staycations, with many bookings for beach and tourist destinations like Bath and Brighton, respectively (Kollewe, 2020).
These cities' hotels were almost entirely filled up before the end of August. However, visitors stayed away in huge numbers from London and New York. It was 51 percent in August, 58 percent in September, and 50 percent in October, the average occupancy rate for hotels. It's not uncommon for people to travel after a pandemic because they want to see their friends and family. As many as 6,000 Whitbread workers in the United Kingdom might be let off, and the business asked shareholders for $1 billion in May in order to stabilise its financial condition. A salary decrease and a suspension of dividend payments have been implemented. As a result, Whitbread has increased its number of hotels in Germany by three times in the first half. By the end of the year, Premier Inn hopes to have signed up 15 more facilities around the nation, making it the biggest budget hotel chain in the country.
At a time when the British government is winding down its employment aid strategy, Whitbread WTB.L aims to cut up to 6,000 jobs from its hotels and restaurants as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the travel and hospitality industries. According to the company, it has begun a formal consultation process on the potential layoffs, which would affect around 18 percent of its workforce (Nadkar, 2020). As of 0709 GMT, the company's shares had fallen by 2.9 percent to 2,047 pence. Millions of dollars' worth of business and leisure trips have been cancelled throughout the globe as a consequence of the pandemic. Therefore, the researcher has also presented the information and data regarding the initiatives that have been taken by Premier Inn in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the world during its organisational business operation. Thus, a consequence of the outbreak, the organisation has had to deal with a challenge never before seen.
Strategies to flatten the COVID-19 curve including neighbourhood lockdowns, social distance, stay-at-home orders, travel, and mobility constraints have led in a significant decline in demand for hospitality services and a temporary halt of the firm's commercial operations. Moreover, in this case, the secondary data demonstrate the knowledge about different fruitful and significant initiatives taken by the organisation in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Coordination with local health authorities; hotel, restaurant, and catering administration; as well as industry groupings is necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from Premier Inn's management team. The team should aid with case management, contact tracking, and minimising client and staff impact (World Health Organization, 2020). It may be feasible to lower occupancy rates in situations when physically separating tenants is impossible. Sick staff must follow protocols. Always keep one metre between staff and clients. All staff should have access to hand hygiene, cleaning, and disinfecting high-touch areas.
Sick rooms must be cleaned and disinfected per design. Also included are telework standards, employee screening methods, and directions for safe return to work following COVID-19 therapy (8,9). Whenever new guidelines, procedures, or regulations are issued by appropriate authorities, the strategy should be updated to reflect such changes. In order to ensure that the action plan is executed consistently and efficiently, the Premier Inn management team needs devote appropriate resources. "Action plan execution and effectiveness should be checked regularly to assure compliance, detect and correct shortcomings, and update the plan based on real-world experience." Management may want to form a crisis team with members from each relevant department to help with action plan implementation and changes. Premier Inn should monitor and justify staff absences regularly to identify and respond to COVID-19 illness. Keep a record of everything the organisation does after a suspected or confirmed case.
5.2 Summary
Throughout the analysis of the entire above data, it is summarised that Some methods for smoothing out the COVID-19 curve have resulted in lower demand for hospitality services and the temporary suspension of the company's commercial activities, such as neighbourhood lockdowns, social distance, stay-at-home orders, and travel restrictions. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic epidemic, the organization's knowledge of several successful and noteworthy activities is evident in secondary data. Preventing the spread of COVID-19 from Premier Inn's management team requires collaboration with local health authorities, hotel, restaurant, and catering administrations, as well as industry groupings. The regional lockdowns of Premier Inn facilities in October cost Whitbread £725 million in the first half of the financial year. Reservations have now been cancelled. As a result of Covid-19's countrywide ban earlier this year, the sales of Beefeater and Brewers Fayre-owned hotels and pubs plummeted by 99.999 percent.
Furthermore, secondary qualitative data gathering and analysis reveal a comparable level of understanding. Preliminary data on international travel and tourism generally includes official figures on visits to the UK by foreign people from April to June 2020. Visits and spending by visitors from outside the United States decreased by 96% and 97%, respectively, in the second quarter of 2020. In this way, it becomes evaluated and evident that the researcher has been able to proficiently develop and demonstrate the significant and effective information regarding this study. The researcher has demonstrated that the scholars also have stated similar information in the literature review section. In this way, all the research questions and research objectives have been addressed and met respectively through collecting and analysing the most authentic and reliable information and data regarding the topic, “A Study about the Effect of COVID-19 on the International Tourism and Hospitality Management – A Case Study of Premier Inn”.
6.1 Conclusion
Throughout the evaluation of the entire study, it is concluded that in terms of impact, the current corona virus epidemic dwarfs the 2002–2003 SARS pandemic. More than 500,000 people have died as a result of the ailment, which has been reported in over 10 million people over the world. Consider how afflicted even leaders and celebrities like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had earlier issued a grim warning for British inhabitants to prepare for a probable loss of life, were infected by the virus to get a sense of the epidemic's magnitude. The World Health Organization issued travel cautions because of its fast spread, which paralleled that of COVID 19. Once again, the fragility of the tourism sector has been highlighted as a result of recent travel restrictions and warnings. On a cruise ship in Japan, diseased holidaymakers were segregated, but this was just the beginning of the present disaster.
Moreover, through conducting the literature study, the researcher has also demonstrated the information and data about the tourism in pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 periods and the resilience of urban and industry of tourism affect COVID-19. Moreover, the impact of people’s rights of hospitality and tourism in responses to COVID-19 and the information regarding UK based hospitality industry’s response to COVID-19 have been prominently highlighted and evaluated within the literature review section of this research. As a result, the effectiveness, sturdiness, and prominence of this study's research methodologies may be assessed and summarised with confidence. It has been determined, through an examination of all of the data presented in the preceding paragraphs, that certain techniques for flattening out the COVID-19 curve have led to a decrease in demand for hospitality services and a temporary suspension of the company's commercial activities. These techniques include neighbourhood lockdowns, social distance, stay-at-home orders, and travel restrictions.
In addition, the company has been forced to temporarily suspend its operations. The information that the organisation has about a number of successful and notable actions is readily apparent in secondary data as a consequence of the pandemic outbreak caused by COVID-19. It is necessary to work together with local health authorities, hotel, restaurant, and catering administrations, as well as industry groupings, in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 from Premier Inn's management team. Whitbread incurred costs of £725 million in the first half of the financial year as a result of the regional lockdowns of Premier Inn sites in October. The reservations have been cancelled at this time. The sales at hotels and bars controlled by Beefeater and Brewers Fayre dropped by 99.999 percent when a ban on Covid-19 was implemented over the whole nation earlier this year. In addition, the collection and examination of secondary qualitative data suggest a degree of comprehension equivalent to the first.
In general, preliminary data on international travel and tourism contains official numbers on the number of times visitors from other countries visited the United Kingdom between April and June of 2020. The number of trips and the amount of money spent by tourists coming from countries other than the United States fell by 96 and 97 percent, respectively, during the second quarter of the year 2020. It is reviewed and made clear in this manner that the researcher has been able to competently generate and exhibit the crucial and effective information pertaining to this investigation.
The researcher has provided evidence to show that the academics have likewise mentioned comparable facts in the part devoted to the literature evaluation. Through the process of collecting and analysing the most authentic and reliable information and data pertaining to the subject of "A Study about the Effect of COVID-19 on the International Tourism and Hospitality Management – A Case Study of Premier Inn," all the research questions and research objectives have been addressed and met respectively. This was accomplished by collecting and analysing the information.
6.2 Recommendation
Employees 60 years of age and older, as well as those with pre-existing medical issues such as heart disease, diabetes, or lung cancer, must wear a medical mask while working in regions where the virus that causes COVID-19 is present. Fabric masks may be used by employees under the age of 60 and in excellent health if they cannot maintain a distance of at least one metre from other people. This is especially true for employees who have regular or even prospective interaction with other people. Everyone should abide by the rules and regulations set out by their local government (World Health Organisation, 2020). Symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, dry cough or exhaustion, should be reported to the local health authority by personnel at an accommodation facility. According to local health officials, the ill individual should be kept alone in a room or at least one metre away from other people.
Affected guests should not be allowed to have visitors in their room. If at all feasible, the staff should also shift everyone accompanying the ill individual to a separate room. The power to order ill visitors to stay in their rooms or prohibit other guests from visiting them often rests with the appropriate public health authorities, not the hotel or lodging company management. The rights of visitors to decline or not take prescribed steps shall be governed by national legislation (Farzanegan et al., 2021). A medical mask should be worn by everyone entering a patient's room, and staff should keep at least a one-meter distance from the patient. Prior to donning personal protective equipment such as medical mask and safety glasses, gloves and an isolating gown and offering assistance to a sick client, employees should wash their hands for at least one minute. How to prevent polluting oneself should be taught.
COVID-19 signs like fever, dry cough or exhaustion should prompt workers to immediately cease working and put on a medical mask before being isolated in an appropriate place. While awaiting medical evaluation or transfer to an assessment centre, a dedicated isolation space should provide disposable tissues and a garbage pail with a cover (Kumar and Nafi, 2020). Workers who have symptoms at home should remain there and seek medical assistance, following the advice of a health professional who will include a period of self-isolation away from others, including family members, according to local recommendations. Employees are expected to tell their supervisors of this fact.
6.3 Future Research Scope
Generally, the researcher has utilised and implemented the qualitative method only to collect and analyse both the primary and secondary data. Through this, the researcher has been able to collect the most authentic and evident and most reliable information data from the sources. However, the qualitative data cannot be measured effectively and sometimes the data can be outdated. Therefore, it has some lacking to fulfil the all aspects of a research study. In this aspect, the researcher has been able to provide only the qualitative information and knowledge and demonstrate only the data about the managerial perspective from interview and from different articles, existing research papers, scholar’s notes, etc. Therefore, the researcher has been unable to demonstrate the knowledge about employee perspective. In this aspect, the researcher has decided to conduct further research in the market by considering the primary quantitative data, which will be collected through conducting the survey among the employees of this organisation.
6.4 Research Limitation
During the conduction of the research, the researcher has faced different issues and restrictions from different external and internal factors. Generally, due to having limited time for submission the researcher has not been able to conduct a wide range of research. Moreover, due to having limited access different data bases, the researcher has been unable to provide large number of qualitative data and information. Therefore, this research become narrowed down.
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