What?

The global hotel industry has suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic and needed to change its regular working routine. The crisis has faced the hotels and their stakeholders unprepared and caused financial and reputation loss. The thesis focused on the Israeli hotel industry and its situations.

A few issues were discovered based on the research. First, the incoordination and miscommunication between the relevant stakeholders during the pandemic. The different stakeholders involved worked in parallel but not in conjunction. Each authority had its responsibilities, but collaboration with others did not exist. Therefore, it caused further issues such as lost information, mistrust, and confusion. Second, the associations and governmental bodies lack a creative mindset and skilled personnel. Last, all stakeholders encountered deficiency in sorts of resources. There is a variety of resources; financial, valued, and updated information, etc.

Who?

The stakeholders of the hotel industry are many; suppliers, users, staff, etc. Therefore, the model is made for the whole relevant stakeholders, specifically to the Israeli market but could be implemented worldwide. The social platform operators should be the tourism ministry, and the government should budget it properly. Why? The problem is relevant to the economic, social, and tourist situation in the country. There are always crises, so it is necessary to find how to react.

How?

To improve the communication channels, help with the creative approach and allow sharing information and resources with other businesses for future crises, a holistic crisis management model was created. The model consists of three elements:

1. The IHI-CM booklet allows the hotels a physical tool to use and work with to prepare for and during a crisis. It guides the person on what factors should be included in the process such as: who should be involved, what they need to do, how should they do it, and when? It organizes and structures the steps of actions, allows a clear framework to help the business survive a crisis.

2. The social platform allows the hotel industry stakeholders full control over their businesses and stakeholders. Its main benefits are:

– Digital version of the IHI-CM booklet work frame, allows ongoing monitoring of the situation

– Full control of the business and its next events

– Transparent relationship with stakeholders

– Quick and authorized information

– Maximise coordination and communication with stakeholders

3. The app is a complementary tool for the model. It allows fast and mobile access to the organization’s account for quick updates, anywhere you are.

Three Learnings

1. A final concept is never final, it is the point where you decide to stop developing it.

2. An external feedback on your work is necessary to further improve ideas, but sometimes it can distract and confuse.

3. Different bodies usually do not share their flaws with exterior factors and blame others to validate their actions.

PDF