Abstract
Marketing Strategies Applied by Accommodation Establishments during Crisis Periods: A Case Study
Crisis is a state of tension that occurs at unexpected times and greatly affects the continuity of businesses. The tourism sector is a very sensitive sector in terms of being affected by crises, due to its versatile structure. Natural disasters, terrorist incidents, epidemics, political tensions, fluctuations in the economy, etc., may cause crisis, and that can cause the accommodation businesses to lose tourists at any time. Developing new products, turning to alternative tourism markets, and reducing costs may be an option for businesses. However, since each crisis situation is different from each other, managers must determine the most appropriate strategy for the crisis. Effective crisis management is possible with strategic management. With a smart strategic management, crises can be turned into opportunities. With the Covid-19 outbreak, many hospitality businesses had to reconsider their marketing strategies. In the research, a case study was carried out on the five-star Kolin Hotel in Çanakkale. The purpose of this study is to determine how the hotel was affected by the epidemic and what kind of marketing strategy they implemented against this crisis situation. Before the epidemic, it was observed that Kolin Hotel, whose customer base was usually foreign tourists coming from the Far East with package tours, was negatively affected by domestic and international travel restrictions that started with the epidemic. Hotel management has mostly followed the strategies of market share and cost reduction and customer acquisition.
Keywords
Crisis in Tourism, Marketing Strategies, Accommodation Establishments, Covid-19
