From Darkest to Finest Hour: Recovery Strategies and Organizational Resilience in China’s Hotel Industry During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the global tourism industry and continues to impact the Chinese hotel sector today. Using a multiple cases study method, we analyzed the response strategies of four Chinese hotel groups – Jinling, Jinjiang, New Century Hotels & Resorts, and Huazhu Group Ltd.—across four successive periods: (1) outbreak; (2) first recovery; (3) struggle; and (4) a predicted finest moment. We identified four internal recovery strategies: (a) rapid response, (b) recovery exploration, (c) optimization and upgrading, and (d) rejuvenation. Hotel groups’ resilience proceeded through all four stages include (re)activation, consolidation, extension, and ecosystem. Each stage demonstrated the companies’ movement from reliance on internal resources to interdependence across the supply chain with on the help of digital services such as contactless check-in, robot delivery and cloud-based PMS. We additionally identified a close link between stakeholders including online travel agencies, government and hotel chains. The analysis in the present study is premised on resource utilization, product and service development, organizational management and operation, leadership, digitalization, and social responsibility. Suggestions to cope with a long-duration crisis like COVID-19 are also provided.

从“至暗时刻”到“高光时刻” : 新冠肺炎疫情期间中国酒店业的恢复战略与组织韧性摘要

2020年爆发的新冠肺炎疫情对全球旅游业产生冲击性影响, 时至今日仍在影响着中国酒店业。本研究采用多案例研究方法, 分析了金陵、锦江、开元和华住四家中国大型酒店集团在新冠疫情的爆发期、初次恢复期、挣扎期以及预测的高光时刻等四个不同时期所采取的应对战略。研究发现案例企业内部重点采取了四种恢复战略:快速响应战略、恢复探索战略、优化升级战略和复兴战略。在四个不同阶段酒店的组织韧性构建机制分别为韧性激活、韧性整合、韧性增强以及预测的韧性生态系统。在危机的各个阶段酒店通过数字化手段如无接触入住、机器人送物和基于云端的PMS系统等数字服务, 实现从依赖内部资源转变为整个供应链体系的相互依赖。同时, 酒店企业与OTA、政府与酒店集团等利益相关者之间保持密切联系。本研究以资源利用、产品和服务开发、组织管理与运营、领导力、数字化和社会责任作为分析的前提和基础, 最后提出了应对长期性危机的管理建议。

KEYWORDS:

• Recovery strategy
• organizational resilience
• China hotel industry
• COVID-19
• multiple cases study

关键词:

• 恢复战略
• 组织韧性
• 中国酒店
• 新冠疫情
• 多案例研究

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19388160.2022.2164100

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the The national social science fund of China, “the realizing mechanism and governmental policies of tourism enterprises’open innovation in China” [18BGL149].

Notes on contributors

Huimin Gu

Huimin Gu is Professor of Management in School of Tourism Sciences at Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China. Her research interest includes management innovation, CSR, crisis management and hospitality management (E-mail: [email protected]).

Bin Li

Bin Li is Professor of Management in School of Tourism Sciences at Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China. His research interest includes strategic management, organization innovation and hospitality management (E-mail: [email protected]).

Chris Ryan

Chris Ryan is Director of the BUU China-New Zealand Tourism Research Unit at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. His research interests relate to tourist behaviors and the economic, social and environmental consequences of those behaviors (E-mail: [email protected]).

Yue Tang

Yue Tang is graduate student in School of Tourism Science at Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China. Her research interests include intelligent service technology and consumer behavior, tourism and hotel crisis management (E-mail: [email protected]).

Xu Yang

Xu Yang is graduate student in School of Tourism Sciences at Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China. Her research interests include strategic management, CSR, tourism and hotel crisis management (E-mail: [email protected]).