Evaluation of the COVID- 19 pandemic process within the scope of yield management: implementation in a hotel business

ABSTRACT

Service-based hotel businesses produce products that cannot be stocked. These products are seats in planes and trains, cars in car rental companies, chairs in restaurants, and rooms in hotel businesses. Hotel businesses have a fixed capacity, so it is very difficult to increase capacity in a short time. Yield management aims to generate the highest income from products which are produced at a fixed capacity. Rooms that are not sold in time mean a loss for the businesses. Therefore, demand, capacity, and price must be managed in the most efficient way. Right after the first case of Coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019, it spread rapidly all over the world, and the demand for tourism products came to a standstill due to restrictions, fear, and travel bans. This situation has left yield managers in a difficult position at the point of strategic decision-making. For this reason, the main purpose of this study is to determine the strategies and performances of a five-star resort hotel operating in Marmaris, which appeals to those with high income, in the 2020 summer season within the scope of yield management. An additional sub-purpose of the research is to reveal the Covid-19 measures taken by the hotel managers. For this goal, purpose-oriented questions were determined by making use of the literature. Interviews were held in September 2021 with the managers of the sales-marketing department, which is responsible for demand management, and the front office department, which is responsible for capacity management via internet by using a semi-structured interview technique. The data that is obtained within the scope of the research were analyzed by a descriptive analysis method. The results of the research reveal the Covid-19 measures, strategies, and performance of a luxury hotel business during the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, front Office and sales-marketing managers mostly developed strategies related to demand management. Covid-19 measures have been timely and put into practice. Despite Covid-19, the hotel's financial performance was more successful than the previous year.