THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE HOTEL INDUTSRY IN GHANA:

PERSPECTIVES OF MANAGERS AND STAFF

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction

In December 2019, the world all over was awakened to the possibility of a Coronavirus disease
pandemic, which threatened existing systems, owing to the absence of vaccines and treatment to
control the disease. As at July 2021, COVID-19 has affected 196 million persons and recorded
4.19 million deaths (World Health Organisation, 2021). The threat it poses to humanity is
therefore without doubt. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, all industries worldwide,
public and private have been affected, requiring short and medium term plans to adapt to the new
state of affairs. These actions have affected organizational operations, causing a ripple effect
across industries. Many organisations have moved operations online, working remotely and
providing services via the use of the internet to reduce the share of spaces by humans
(Mazzucato & Kattel, 2020). However, the impact on organisations has been diverse, affecting
sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education, finance, sports and hospitality. Of the many
industries affected by the COVID-19, the hospitality industry is often an area of prime interest
due to the travel and movement restrictions imposed.

The United Nations World Trade Organisation (UNWTO, 2020) reports that the Covid-19
pandemic almost shut down the world’s economy in a short period of time. For the hospitality
industry, the pandemic presented a major challenge to their operations, growth and consequently,
survival. The adoption of partial and full lockdowns, social distancing, and bans on travel
resulted in temporary closure and partial opening of many hospitality businesses. According to
Bartik, Bertrand, Cullen, Glaeser, Luca, and Stanton (2020), these measures considerably
reduced demand for firms that were permitted to continue operating. For instance, whiles
restaurants had to move to deliveries and take out services, hotels were confronted with a much
difficult predicament: a drop in room occupancy.

Despite no assurance of a pandemic curve-flattening situation, vaccine development and

adherence to regulations provided a chance of reopening, and authorities have since put in place
measures to ease restrictions. In the hospitality sector, restaurants can now allow dine-in at a
reduced capacity with strict social distancing guidelines. Travel routes are also now operational
with COVID-19 tests mandatory and vaccine certificates required in some cases. In effect, hotels
are also allowing occupancies and slowly resuming full functioning. However, the effect the
pandemic has taken on the hospitality industry especially in emerging markets where hospitality
is a key aspect of the economy requires an in-depth investigation.

Currently, hospitality firms are expected to make significant adjustments to their operations in
the COVID-19 business environment in order to guarantee the health and safety of their staff and
customers, as well as increase customer willingness to patronize their business (Gössling et al.,
2020). This pandemic will very certainly have a substantial influence on the decision making of
hospitality marketing and management experts. With unprecedented challenges faced by the
hospitality industry in the COVID-10 era, research that will assist in developing solutions is
vital.

Existing research on the hospitality sector in the wake of COVID-19 presents a number of
significant findings. For instance, Gursoy et al., (2020) conduct a study where they found that,
despite reopening of hospitality facilities, few customers (a quarter of customer) have already
dined in a restaurant and even fewer are willing to travel to a destination and stay at a hotel in the
next few months. Thus, the hospitality industry according to Gursoy et al (2020) faces a decline
in customer attendance. Earlier studies on the effect of pandemics on the hospitality sector, also
presented similar conclusions to that of Gursoy and Chi (2020), who reported a loss in hotel
revenue. Pine and McKercher (2004) observing the impact of the SARS outbreak on the Hong
Kong Tourism Industry also highlighted the fragility of sector which made it susceptible to
pandemic outbreaks. Chen, Jang and Kim (2007) also reported severe damage to the hotel stocks
in Taiwan due to the SARS outbreak as compared to several industries. Kim, Chun and Lee
(2006) also found a slowed business period in the South Korean Hotel industry during the SARS
pandemics. Haque and Haque (2018) also reported an estimated loss in tourism revenues in
Brunei during the outbreak of the swine flu. These studies are uniform in reporting that,
pandemics and hospitality business have a negative relationship. However, the alternate is that,
adequate preparation and adoption of measures can greatly mediate this relationship.

In the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, business and academics urgently need to conduct and
manage hospitality marketing and hospitality management research. These studies however have
to be considerate of the cultural context within which the hotel industry exists. For developing
economies like Ghana, research in this aspect is important considering the growth of the
country’s tourism and hospitality industry.

Problem Statement

The global hotel industry faces one of its most severe operational, commercial and financial
crises due to the wide-reaching spread of COVID-19. Like in other industries and countries,
Ghana’s hotel industry experienced a down turn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hartman and
Nickerson (2020) and Kim, Kim, and Park, (2020) report that hotels have been badly affected
and have suspended operations and commercial activities due to the partial to permanent
closure of international borders. To add to that, the restrictions on movements and entertainment
activities have meant that, patrons of hotels had to reduce usage of hotel facilities as part of
safety public health measures. This is a grappling issue considering the hotel industry as part of
the Ghana's hospitality industry ranks fourth in Africa, in terms of profitability. This indicates a
significant share of income loss for the revenue machinery of the country as a whole.

Scholarship has not been shy of observing and examining this challenge. Lamanna, Williams,
and Childers (2012) discussed the devastating consequences, both operationally and concerning
human resources, among hotels experiencing in periods of disasters. Baum and Hai (2020)
examined the hospitality, tourism and the human rights to engage in activities; and found that
rights to participate in hospitality and tourism, particularly in parts of Asia, Europe and North
America, were affected on a scale unprecedented in peacetime. Hosington (2020) also found that
hotels are especially susceptible to reduced tourism and travel along with a slowdown in
economic activity, like the case of COVID 19. While a number of studies have observed the
impact of the pandemic on the hotel industry, these studies have come from varied perspectives.
Jiang and Wen (2020) focused on the hotel marketing and management and the hotel guest
behavior, providing potential solutions to address hotel business in a pandemic. Thus, studies
have well incorporated the situation in their studies.

Locally, the hotel sector in Ghana was reported to face huge losses since the covid-19 pandemic
(BORGEN Magazine, 2021). The 2021 Budget read by the Ministry of Finance revealed that the
Hotels & Restaurants subsector recorded the worst growth performance, contracting by 45%
percent, reflective of how the hospitality industry was severely affected by the partial lockdown
and restrictions on air and land travel that were imposed over the period to contain the spread of
COVID-19. Till date, a number of hotels have not recovered from the financial losses.
Employees of hotels have reported large layoffs and suppliers of hotel inputs have also
highlighted the drop in purchases. With the solution to this expected from hotel stakeholders,
there is need to properly assess what damage COVID-19 did and continues to do, in the case of
Ghana’s hotel sector, in order to tailor the responses to these challenges.

Objectives of the Study

The general purpose of the study is to explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hotel
sector in Ghana. This is to identify how the pandemic changed, transformed or varied operations
of the industry, as well as how these changes can relate to the performance of the industries.
Specifically, the study will:

i. Identify the various aspects of hotel operations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

ii. Examine the implications of these change in operations on the hotels’ patronage and

employee retention.

iii. Explore the perspectives of the impact on performance and potential survival of the

sector, going forward.

Preliminary Literature Review

A number of related research on the research problem is vital in terms of offering a strength and
weakness to the present study. These studies have relevant findings to guide the study.

Soehardi and Untari (2020) examine the effect of Covid-19 pandemic on hotel employees, hotel
occupancy rates and hotel tax income in Jakarta, Indonesia. The study considered the variables of
hotel employees, occupancy rates and tax income as affected by the pandemic. The population of
the study for the first variable was hotel employees, whiles data on occupancy rates and tax
income was obtained from secondary sources (occupancy rates-hotel records, tax income-hotel
records and Indonesia revenue data). The sample of the study was 98 employee surveyed using
quantitative approaches. The instrument of the study was a questionnaire and the design was
descriptive and inferential. The study found that, the pandemic lead to a loss of employees either
through layoffs or voluntary exits. The pandemic also saw a decline in hotel occupancy rates and
a decrease in revenue from hotel taxes. The study despite being set in Indonesia offers key
insights and potential information on how the pandemic affects Ghana as well.

Denizci Guillet and Chu (2020) also explored how and to what extent revenue management can
be implemented in the hotel industry during low-demand periods, like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hotel RM executives, RM consultants, and RM system suppliers were interviewed in semi-
structured interviews for the study. Participants were invited to consider how COVID-19 might
affect their RM practices. Between January and March 2020, this study surveyed 26 revenue
executives. The study found that during the COVID-19 crisis, core RM procedures are still vital;
however, not all components are equally crucial. The most important RM processes are business
analysis, price strategy, and demand modeling and forecasting. Inventory and pricing
optimization, as well as setting booking controls, are not as critical at this stage; but, as demand
grows, these procedures, along with distribution channel management, will become more
important. During the COVID-19 crisis, core RM procedures are still vital; however, not all
components are equally crucial. The most important RM processes are business analysis, price
strategy, and demand modeling and forecasting. Inventory and pricing optimization and booking
restrictions are at present moment no longer significant. These procedures will become more
vital with demand recovery in conjunction with distribution channel management. This is the
first research to investigate systematically how much RM can be used in a crisis.

Lai and Wong (2020) compared the crisis management systems in hotels at the initial and
pandemic stages of the COVID-19. The study collected data from hotel managers in Macau in
early February and early April 2020. The study used importance-usage-performance analysis to
classify six categories of practices (pricing, marketing, maintenance, human resources,
government assistance and epidemic prevention) into four executable crisis management
strategies (priority, maintain, low priority and possible overkill) for each stage. The researchers
also used follow-up in-person interviews to validate the results of the study. The study reported
that priority methods should be implemented in all epidemic prevention, pricing, and
maintenance activities, as well as two governmental aid and human resources processes, at the
start. Further, all epidemic prevention activities remain in the priority quadrant during the
pandemic stage, although two pricing practices are demoted. The paper found that hotels have a
habit of forcing employees to take unpaid vacations and postponing office and system
maintenance. The paper concluded that government help should be a last resort in crisis
management. Essentially, the paper admitted that, the pandemic presented a challenge to hotels,
and thus hotels need to be abreast with management systems.

Hao, Xiao, and Chon (2020) conducted an exploratory study on the overall impacts of COVID-
19 pandemic on China’s hotel industry. The study found that tourists' desire and access to travel
have decreased as a result of travel prohibitions and social distancing practices. This has caused
visitors to cancel their trip plans and hotel reservations, affecting the employment and income
stability of hotel staff. As a result of the labor and cash shortages, hotel refurbishment projects
have been delayed, slowing the growth of domestic hotel companies. The study reported that as
the epidemic worsened, the financial losses in China's hotel business extended throughout the
first quarter, with the impact seen in the financial reports of numerous hotel companies. The
study also noted that the hotel market started witnessing positive signs after the pandemic slowed
down in mid-March. Aside from outlining the overall effects of COVID-19 on China's hotel
business, the significance and uniqueness of this study are that it provides a COVID-19
management framework comprised of anti-pandemic stages, principles, and tactics. It also
provided unique insights into important post-pandemic developments in China's hotel sector,
such as the rise of multi-business and multi-channels, product design and investment preference,
digital and intelligent transformation, and market upheaval.

Anguera-Torrell, Aznar-Alarcón, and Vives-Perez (2020) also assessed the economic impact
directly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic’s evolution, along with the effect that economic
policies may have in supporting the industry. Using a quantitative approach, the paper estimated
how the 20 world-largest and publicly listed hotel companies’ stock market returns reacted to the
pandemic evolution and to the different public sector economic measures across the different
countries they operate using regression techniques. The study found that the hotel industry has
been negatively affected by the COVID-19 evolution. However, hotel stock prices are positively
correlated to economic policies with direct impact in public budget, whereas measures with non-
direct impact, such as liquidity provisions or financial assistance, seem not to support the
industry.
Waller (2021) discussed if the economic impacts of crises in hotels can be limited by
implementing certain strategies or crisis management techniques. The paper contributed to the
tourism and hospitality industry’s knowledge of crises and the impacts on 4-star hotels
specifically, comparing two destinations in Europe, London and Stockholm, to identify if crisis
management techniques can be implemented to limit the economic impacts for future crises. This
in turn will allow hotel senior managers (HSMs) to implement crisis management techniques to
reduce the economic impacts of crises in their hotels. The research gathered data from academic
sources, media outlets and primary sources, offering a holistic analysis of Covid-19’s economic
impacts in hotels, looking past just financial impacts but wider. A cross-section of city hotels
was utilized to examine variations in CMTs, obtaining primary research and data from HSMs in
the midst of the crisis and its consequences. The findings show that crises affect locations
differently, and hence CMTs will vary based on how the crisis affects a given hotel or
destination. However, there are several methods that may be taken to mitigate the economic
consequences, with empirical evidence pointing to numerous successful CMTs, but they must be
appropriate and particular to the crisis, hotel, and location.

For Sharma, Shin, Santa-María, and Nicolau (2021), the impact of COVID-19 was examined
from the perspective of innovation and performance. Understanding the negative impact of the
pandemic, the paper establishes what forms of innovation can be adopted. Borrowing from the
theory of innovation, the study explores which forms of innovation and at what levels these
innovations have been adopted. The researchers observed that even though hotels have no
experience with pandemics, they have quickly adopted many innovative practices to deal with
the pandemic. The writers observe that several innovations adopted by the hotel industry fall
under marketing innovations. These innovations are noted to have had significant impact on the
profitability, given the difficult period hotels were in.

For a pandemic which is still ongoing, there is still an open field for studies to be conducted.
Whiles these studies offer great insight, there is still more to learn from the pandemic, which
necessitates the present study.
Justification of the Study

The magnitude of the COVID 19 crisis and its devastating effects on operations, employees, and
customers of the hospitality industry cannot be understated. While the pandemic has dealt the
hospitality industry and the academia with uncharted challenges, it also presents great research
opportunities for research in business management, public health, and the hospitality industry.
Although it is not possible to predict the full economic extent of the COVID-19 outbreak as the
pandemic is still ongoing at the time of writing, it is believed that the effect is significantly more
than SARS. According to UNWTO (2020) theories, domestic tourism is expected to rebound
quicker than international tourism, with predictions that younger travelers are more robust to
travel problems, opening up new market niches for hotels to pursue. The UNWTO's theories
highlight the various implications on locations, market groups, and tourists, implying that hotels
should adjust their crisis management technique recovery based on the impact.

This research will first introduce the background and context of the research topic in the
introduction chapter: the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis on the tourism and
hospitality industry (with a focus on the hotel sector), and the role of hotel businesses in
responding to the pandemic crisis. The research gap will be described and the importance of the
research topic will be explained, followed by an outline of the research questions and describing
the research overview. The second chapter will review the literature on COVID-19, pandemic
management in general and the relationship between pandemics and the hotel sector. To answer
the research questions, the third chapter will explain the research methodology, research design,
and research method to be applied. The findings and the conclusions will hence be relevant for
practical and theoretical applications.

The study will be relevant for hotel industry practitioners and professionals including managers,
shareholders and employees to understand what effects a pandemic has on the sector and how
these effects can be managed. The study will also be relevant to policymakers when formulating
policies that will affect hotels especially during pandemics. This information can be significant
in formulating the right polices. Finally, the study will act as a source of information for future
research on pandemics and the hotel industry management.
Proposed Methodology

The descriptive research design will be used in this study. This will encompasses surveys,
interviews, observation, and empirical reviews. The research design will be used as
information will be gathered basically from hotel managers and employees then presented in
a descriptive manner. A mixed research approach will be used where qualitative and
quantitative techniques will be used for a holistic appraisal of experiences and facts surrounding
COVID-19 and hotel business.

The population of the study is management and staff of hotels in Ghana. As at the time of
drafting this proposal, the total staff population of all hotels in Ghana is indeterminate owing to
the absence of updated data. However, with the basis that the COVID-19 pandemic was highly
affected in the areas of Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi, (GHS COVID-19, 2020), the study will
focus on hotels in these areas.

The study will employ a two stage sampling to select the hotels and respondents. In the first
stage, a purposive sampling techniques will be used to sample 100 hotels. In the second stage,
simple random sampling will be employed in each selected hotel to select a minimum of 3
respondents.

A survey method will be used to collect data. The survey will employ a questionnaire and a
semi-structured interview guide. The questionnaire will use standardized scales of performance
and pandemic effect measurement. The semi-structured interview guides will be submitted to
hotel managers for more open responses. This data will be supported by secondary data.
Appropriate approval will be sought from hotel management and employees in order to conduct
the study.

Data will be analyzed and presented in using descriptive statistics adopted from SPSS analytical
systems. Open ended data will be subjected to content and thematic analysis for responses to
support findings of the quantitative data. All ethical and reliable considerations will be adhered
to.
Research plan

During the first year of the PhD programme, I will concentrate his efforts on delineating the
research problem and the methodological approach to be implemented. Also, I will embark on
research methods training during the first year to learn additional software like STATA and
SPSS. I will focus on data collection/analysis in the second year. I intend spending six months in
the filed collecting data In Ghana. In the third year, I will concentrate on the write up of the
thesis. The study is expected to complete in 4 years.

Table 1: Time scale for my PhD studies

Time
No Task First Second Third Fourth Year
Year Year Year
1 Review of literature
2 Define of the research problem
4 Data collection
5 Draft the report for internal
6 assessment

7 Data analysis and findings

8 Undertake additional research where
necessary
9 Writing and editing first draft
10 Final submission
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