How did Hotels Measure Performance during Covid-19? Insights from Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Background One of the industries that was among the most disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic was the tourism industry. Hotel owners and managers needed guidelines on how to combat the “new normal” and enable the sustainable economic operation of the hotels they managed. Objectives This paper addresses the problem of identifying performance management (PM) indicators hotel managers turned to during the pandemic and the factors which motivated them to do so. Methods/Approach Managers of hotels in winter destinations in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were surveyed on the performance measures they implemented in the hotels they managed. Results The results of the research show that in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, hotel managers relied on both organisational and operational measures but found operational indicators more useful. The characteristics of managers, such as business position in the hotel, age, level of education and level of work experience, are related to the choice of indicators and levels of their implementation. Also, the hotel’s characteristics, such as size, revenue, and growth rate, proved to have an impact on the level of PM indicators measured. Conclusions In times of crises, such as pandemics, organisational PM indicators that rely mainly on financial results are not as useful as operational ones. The reliance on operational measures of indicators increased the resilience of hotels.