Tourism Business Resilience in Times of Crises. Evidence from Inbound Travel Agencies and COVID-19

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the financial impact, analyze the changes in consumer behavior and identify strategies successfully applied by inbound Greek travel agencies to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, in order to propose certain measures to strengthen the resilience of travel agencies in the post-pandemic tourism environment. Therefore, a primary research was conducted through a questionnaire distributed to individuals working in Greek inbound travel agencies. By the end of the research period, 210 completed questionnaires were collected. The questionnaire provided information about the financial impact, operational difficulties, strategy modifications, changes in consumer behavior and the methods used by travel agencies to deal with the crisis towards recovery and resilience. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS. Findings indicate that inbound travel agencies adopted several strategies to ensure resilience and recovery, mainly by expanding target markets; providing flexible cancellation policies; using quality digital services; and digital marketing. Results contribute to the empirical understanding of the various difficulties that the inbound travel agencies faced during the COVID-19 pandemic crises and highlight the importance of adaptability, teamwork and customer-centric strategies for the recovery of these agencies in the post-pandemic era. Research limitations concerns its geographical and chronological scope. However, it provides evidence of the operational modifications and resilience tactics implemented by inbound tourism travel agencies that may be useful for all types of tourism businesses as resilience strategies in times of crises.

Keywords

• COVID-19 pandemic
• tourism
• travel agencies
• economic impact
• response strategies
• resilience
• recovery

Kriz Zamanlarında Turizm İşletmelerinin Dayanıklılığı. Gelen Seyahat Acentelerinden ve COVID-19'dan Elde Edilen Kanıtlar

Öz

Bu çalışmanın amacı, finansal etkiyi değerlendirmek, tüketici davranışındaki değişiklikleri analiz etmek ve Yunanistan'a gelen seyahat acentelerinin Covid-19 pandemi kriziyle başa çıkmak için başarıyla uyguladıkları stratejileri belirlemek ve böylece pandemi sonrası turizm ortamında seyahat acentelerinin dayanıklılığını artırmak için belirli önlemler önermektir. Bu nedenle, Yunanistan'a gelen seyahat acentelerinde çalışan bireylere dağıtılan bir anket aracılığıyla birincil bir araştırma yürütülmüştür. Araştırma süresi sonunda 210 tamamlanmış anket toplanmıştır. Anket, finansal etki, operasyonel zorluklar, strateji değişiklikleri, tüketici davranışındaki değişiklikler ve seyahat acentelerinin krizle başa çıkmak ve toparlanmak için kullandıkları yöntemler hakkında bilgi sağlamıştır. Toplanan veriler SPSS kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Bulgular, gelen seyahat acentelerinin dayanıklılık ve toparlanmayı sağlamak için hedef pazarları genişletmek, esnek iptal politikaları sağlamak, kaliteli dijital hizmetler kullanmak ve dijital pazarlama gibi çeşitli stratejiler benimsediğini göstermektedir. Sonuçlar, COVID-19 pandemi krizleri sırasında gelen seyahat acentelerinin karşılaştığı çeşitli zorlukların ampirik olarak anlaşılmasına katkıda bulunmakta ve bu acentelerin pandemi sonrası dönemde toparlanması için uyum sağlama, ekip çalışması ve müşteri odaklı stratejilerin önemini vurgulamaktadır. Araştırmanın coğrafi ve kronolojik kapsamı araştırmanın sınırlılıkları arasındadır. Bununla birlikte, kriz zamanlarında her türlü turizm işletmesi için dayanıklılık stratejileri olarak faydalı olabilecek gelen turizm seyahat acenteleri tarafından uygulanan operasyonel değişiklikler ve dayanıklılık taktiklerine dair kanıtlar sunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• COVID-19 pandemisi
• turizm
• seyahat acenteleri
• ekonomik etki
• müdahale stratejileri
• dayanıklılık
• toparlanma

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