COVID 19 AND TOURISM IN ZIMBABWE; A FRAMEWORK FOR RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FOR HOTELS IN ZIMBABWE

The COVID 19 pandemic brought a global meltdown of the tourism industry. COVID 19 created a great deal of uncertainty, and there was little readiness in the event of a calamity within the hotel business sector due to an absence of knowledge about ways to act. The pandemic induced crisis conditions in the tourism industry led to a significant fall in travelers, occupancy levels, average daily rate (ADR), and revenue per available room (RevPAR), and trip cancellations. The study sought to develop a framework for recovery and resilience for hotels in Zimbabwe in light of the devastating effects of the COVID 19 pandemic. The study adopted a mixed method research approach in which hotel managers from selected hotels in Zimbabwe were questionnaire surveyed and interviewed. The findings of the study are that the COVID 19 pandemic severely affected the hotel industry in Zimbabwe leading to a sharp decline in occupancy, decrease in revenues, loss of jobs, and loss of markets as well as suffering severe financial losses. However, the recovery and the resilience framework for hotels in Zimbabwe in light of COVID 19 include the following strategies; implementing preventative health measures at hotels, such as wearing of masks, social distancing, sanitization points for guests, temperature checks for both guests and staff, and facility fumigation. Additionally, aggressive marketing strategies on both online and offline platforms is another key strategy. It is also important to implement partnerships with different tourism stakeholders to survive the impact of COVID 19 pandemic. In conclusion, though COVID 19 pandemic brought negative impacts on hotels, it also presented an opportunity for hotels to embrace the new normal and build resilience even for future disasters.