The increasing demand for food, the lack of natural resources and arable land, and the recent restrictions on energy consumption require an immediate solution in terms of agricultural activities. This paper’s objective was to review hydroponics (a new soilless cultivation technology) and compare it with conventional agriculture (soil cultivation) regarding its environmental impact and water and energy consumption. The soil loss, the crop/soil contamination, and the greenhouse gas emissions were the criteria for the environmental comparison of conventional agriculture and hydroponics. As for resource consumption, the water consumption rates (L/kg), energy consumption rates (kWh), and energy required (kW) were the criteria for comparing conventional agriculture with hydroponics. Tomato and cannabis cultivation were used as case studies in this review. The review results showed that the advantages of hydroponics over conventional cultivation include zero-soil cultivation, land-use efficiency, planting environment cleanliness, fertilizer and resource saving, water consumption reduction, and conservation. The disadvantages of hydroponics versus conventional cultivation were found to include the high investment costs, technical know-how requirements, and higher amount of demanded energy.
Hotel companies operate in a highly competitive environment, targeting much clientele from the international market with many specialties. The management in these too demanding conditions is called upon to apply modern strategic management practices by analyzing global developments and supporting the decision-making process by limiting the uncertainty created by the external environment. In this context, it is imperative to analyze the financial and administrative impact of COVID- 19, which strongly threatens tourist traffic and largely overturning current budget estimations. Strategic management can make a decisive contribution to addressing this threat by adopting the established business strategy. This article is based on similar past crises, as they were faced with strategic tools. This work aims to discuss and present the most appropriate recovery management strategies, which can help the hotel industry respond to this unprecedented crisis.
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