Abstract
Crises have negative impacts on businesses and lead to a decreased demand for hospitality services globally. This study aimed to determine how the hospitality industry can use technology for crisis management. The study offers suggestions for technological measures to reduce the impact of crises on the hospitality industry. A qualitative study method was used to evaluate the effects of crises on hospitality industry businesses. Purposive sampling was used to select 13 hospitality managers participants in Johannesburg, who were interviewed using a semi-structured interview design. The collected data were examined using a thematic analysis technique. The findings showed that hospitality managers experienced the negative effects of a crisis within their establishments. Even though the hospitality industry managers were unprepared for COVID-19 they managed to control the effects well with their knowledge, skills and experience. Managers adopted a reactive approach to COVID-19 since there was no similar crisis before and implemented strategies to overcome the effects. Furthermore, the research revealed that hospitality managers reduced their costs by laying off workers and temporarily closing businesses. Owners in the industry requested financial support from the government to maintain their operations and to introduce innovations such as digital communication tools, like social media, messaging apps and emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality systems to remain sustainable. The management implications of this research will encourage a greater awareness of preparations for future pending crises. There is a need to broaden the study since this was limited to a single city. This study will be useful to hospitality business owners from the suggested contingency plans and improvement technological strategies.
Keywords: Crisis management, hospitality, technology, future crises, strategy implementation