Conferences

First he examined the interactions between the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and current economic and social transformations. In light of the session in his honour, Dr George Harlow (American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA) chronicled the history of his career, in which he built collections, organised exhibitions and performed geological fieldwork around the world while researching jade, ruby, etc. Pamir rubies formed at unusually low pressures (minimum of 1–1.2 kbar) and a temperature of approximately 760°C. Wim Vertriest (Gemological Institute of America [GIA], Bangkok, Thailand) and co-authors reviewed the identification of low-temperature heat treatment of gem corundum (i.e. up to about 1200°C, which starts causing damage to rutile ‘silk’ inclusions). In another presentation, Dr Dutrow and co-authors investigated the origin determination of Cu-bearing tourmaline using statistical analyses of LIBS and electron microprobe data.

Crisis management practices in the hospitality and gambling industry during COVID-19

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine crisis management practices among gambling-related hospitality business stakeholders (GBSs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was administered to a sample of GBSs resulting in 64 completed surveys. The survey explored the COVID-19 crisis using a three-phase framework: preparedness (prior experience and response plans), response (level of importance and use of crisis practices) and future (confidence in recovery, beliefs about consumer behavior and new strategies). Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to investigate the influence of preparedness variables on crisis management capabilities. Importance-Performance Analysis was used to evaluate GBSs' crisis management capabilities and identify where performance might be improved. Factor analyses were employed to explore groupings of response practices as well as future strategies.FindingsPrior experience had a significant impact on GBSs' crisis management. IPA indicated gaps between the importance GBSs assign to response practices and their corresponding level of use, specifically for those related to marketing and government. Factor analysis revealed response practices did not group according to the questionnaire's four themes, instead, three themes of marketing, efficiency and expenses were revealed. Prevention and hygiene emerged as dominant themes with respect to future strategies.Originality/valueThis is a timely study that investigates crisis management among GBSs during the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides important methodological contributions as well as valuable practical considerations for gambling-related hospitality businesses.