INVESTIGATION OF CRISIS AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF TURKISH HOTELS IN A LARGE SCALE TOURISM CRISIS
Davut Uysal, Yaşar Sarı, Nazmi Taslacı
DOI: 10.35666/25662880.2017.3.23
UDC: 65.012.32[338.488.2:640.418](560)
Abstract: This study used an adapted version of both Faulkner and Vikulov's (2001) Tourism Disaster Management Framework (TDMF) and Ritchie's (2004) Crisis and Disaster Management Framework (CDMF) and tested the adapted framework to some Turkish hotels within the context of the 2016 tourism crisis in Tukey. This framework consists of six stages regarding crisis management. The number of research focusing on crisis management strategies of the organisations in the hospitality industry is limited in the literature. This study focused on some five-star hotels specifically and aimed to reveal the types of crisis management strategies used as a reaction to a large-scale tourism crisis. 24 specific questions in Turkish regarding six stages were adapted from the framework. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 hotels randomly chosen by the researchers. The results obtained from the interviews identified a range of recommendations for the hospitality industry. Turkish hotels were found to remain inadequate in the use of crisis management strategies. Moreover, they were found to lack of awareness regarding crisis management strategies. Of the recommendations suggested in this study, one key suggestion for the hotels is to develop a formal crisis management plan for a future crisis in the tourism sector and regularly practice it in their organisations.
Key words: Crisis Management, hospitality industry, tourism, Turkish Hotels, Management strategies.