Abstract
About a year ago, before we understood the implications of COVID-19 (and I suspect we won’t know the full extent for quite some time), I used this platform to note that there is plenty of evidence which shows that the models and theories derived from general business and management disciplines are widely applicable to hospitality and tourism contexts. However, we also know there is plenty of variance that is not explained by discipline-based models that have been applied to date, and as such, I contended that alternative, industry-informed models and frameworks are needed to more accurately account for the salient and distinctive elements associated with the hospitality and tourism settings.
As I reflect on the past 12-plus months and the devastating impact caused by the pandemic, I would like to reinforce my plea that hospitality and tourism scholars continue to carefully consider the extent to which the theoretical explanations that have been tested and supported in non-hospitality settings may apply to hospitality settings. The pandemic has put a spotlight on the vulnerability of the industry, and the continuing fallout demonstrates that there is a great deal to learn about how firms respond to environmental shocks. In light of the pandemic’s disproportionate and wide-ranging impact on hospitality and tourism organizations, it is likely that current explanations grounded in economics, strategic and general management, and/or other business domains may not apply, at least in part, due to the unique features—including industry vulnerability—associated with hospitality contexts.
Fortunately, if we’re smart, we will learn from the hospitality firms that retrenched quickly and developed strategies that helped them become resilient, and in some cases, grow and thrive. Settings such as these will afford scholars with direct opportunities to further test and extend our understanding about the applicability of current theories to a wide array of hospitality and tourism organizations, and stimulate insights about further conceptual refinement that explicitly accounts for the forces and characteristics that are particularly important in service-intensive industries. I hope that by looking back on the recent events, we can move forward more quickly to offer better and more informed conceptual and practical insights.