Natural Disasters vs Hotel Industry Resilience: An Exploratory Study among Hotel Managers from Europe

Hotels, like any other businesses in a given location, can be threatened by natural disasters, usually with significant and long-term consequences. The hotel industry is particularly vulnerable and exposed to the risk of property being physically damaged or completely destroyed. Apart from the physical damage, there is also an accompanying economic risk of the tourism sector suffering as tourists avoid areas affected by a disaster event. Therefore, hotels in the areas prone to natural disasters must ensure they are resilient enough to carry on through the turbulent period until regular business levels return. This study is based on survey responses of 63 hotel managers from the 12 European countries most frequently affected by natural disasters. The study relies on multi-capital predictor based approach and examines hotel resilience to natural disasters. It has been found that manager's previous experience of a natural disaster, duration of managerial experience, and organizational category and size have a positive effect on hotel resilience. Moreover, hotels must anticipate such situations and continuously drill how to respond efficiently and adapt quickly in order to ensure business sustainability. Practical implications, study limitations and future research recommendations are also discussed.