Has the Coronavirus Crisis Ended Innovation Inertia? An Analysis of Accommodation Providers

Abstract

The hospitality industry shows comparatively modest innovation activity. However, the coronavirus crisis challenged the industry and increased the need to implement new practices. Following a mixed methods, explanatory sequential research design, this study aims to examine the impact the crisis had on the innovation activity and implementation of different innovation types in the hospitality industry. For data collection, a structured survey of accommodation providers and complementary expert interviews were employed. The findings indicate three different phases in the accommodation providers’ response to the crisis, namely shock, acknowledgment, and adaptation and change. Each phase is characterized by distinct innovation behavior. In the shock phase, the businesses improvised and executed governmental orders. They tried to make sense of the crisis and recognized the need for change and innovation. In the acknowledgment phase, the businesses adapted their service offer to the “new normal” and communicated with their stakeholders to find individual solutions. Finally, in the adaptation and change phase, some accommodation providers were able to implement long-planned innovations and seize spontaneous innovation opportunities. Overall, incremental innovations were preferred to radical innovations, presumably due to cost reasons. Contrary to expectations, the accommodation providers did not show a preference for temporary innovations. Based on the findings, specific recommendations are formulated to increase the accommodation providers’ innovation efforts and prepare their resilience to future crises.