Understanding recovery and resilience from natural disasters in hospitality organizations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.0643Keywords:
resilience, weather events, hospitality industry, Hurricane MaríaAbstract
Extreme weather events, such as Hurricane María, shed light on the importance of understanding the factors that promote resilience, defined as bouncing back after adverse events. The current study took a qualitative focus group approach toward understanding resilience in employees of the hospitality industry after Hurricane María. The hospitality industry plays an important role in disaster responses due to its role in supporting local and national economies, job stability for vulnerable employees, and in supporting response efforts, eg, housing aid workers. Through a series of indepth focus groups, employees from San Juan, Puerto Rico and surrounding areas shared their Hurricane María experiences in terms of themselves as individuals, their workplaces, and their community. Major themes focused on the importance of the preparedness phase of the disaster response timeline, measuring impact and response on multiple levels in interdependent systems, creating and promoting awareness of resources, and acknowledging both struggle and strength when conceptualizing transformative potential. These findings can inform actionable strategies for individuals, organizations, and communities.
References
Kishore N, Marqués D, Mahmud A, et al.: Mortality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane María. N Engl J Med. 2018; 379(2): 162-170.
Santos-Lozada AR, Kaneshiro M, McCarter C, et al.: Puerto Rico exodus: Long-term economic headwinds prove stronger than Hurricane María. Popul Environ. 2020; 42(1): 43-56.
Rodríguez-Díaz CE: María in Puerto Rico: Natural disaster in a colonial archipelago. Am J Public Health. 2018; 108(1): 30-32.
Rosselló J, Becken S, Santana-Gallego M: The effects of natural disasters on international tourism: A global analysis. Tourism Manag. 2020; 79: 104080.
Racherla P, Hu C: A framework for knowledge-based crisis management in the hospitality and tourism industry. Cornell Hosp Q. 2009; 50(4): 561-577.
Brown NA, Orchiston C, Rovins JE, et al.: An integrative framework for investigating disaster resilience within the hotel sector. J Hosp Tourism Manag. 2018; 36: 67-75.
Rose A: Defining and measuring economic resilience to disasters. Disaster prevention and management. Int J. 2004; 13(4): 307-314.
Hillmann J: Disciplines of organizational resilience: Contributions, critiques, and future research avenues. Rev Manag Sci. 15(4): 879-936.
Miller F, Osbahr H, Boyd E, et al.: Resilience and vulnerability: Complementary or conflicting concepts? Ecol Soc. 2010; 15(3). Available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/26268184?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Southwick SM, Bonanno GA, Masten AS, et al.: Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: Interdisciplinary perspectives. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2014; 5(1): 25338.
Vogus TJ, Sutcliffe KM: Organizational resilience: Towards a theory and research agenda. In 2007 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics. Ieee, 2007; 3418-3422.
Lengnick-Hall CA, Beck TE, Lengnick-Hall ML: Developing a capacity for organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Hum Resour Manag Rev. 2011; 21(3): 243-255.
Hartmann S, Weiss M, Newman A, et al.: Resilience in the workplace: A multilevel review and synthesis. Appl Psychol. 2020; 69(3): 913-959.
Ruíz-Martin C, López-Paredes A, Wainer G: What we know and do not know about organizational resilience. Int J Prod Manag Eng. 2018; 6(1): 11-28.
Gibson CA, Tarrant M: A ‘conceptual models’ approach to organizational resilience. Aust J Emerg Manag. 2010; 25(2): 6.
Norris FH, Stevens SP, Pfefferbaum B, et al.: Community resilience as a metaphor, theory, set of capacities, and strategy for disaster readiness. Am J Commun Psychol. 2008; 41(1-2): 127-150.
Linnenluecke MK, Griffiths A, Winn M: Extreme weather events and the critical importance of anticipatory adaptation and organizational resilience in responding to impacts. Bus Strat Environ. 2012; 21(1): 17-32.
Trenberth KE, Jones PD, Ambenje P, et al.: Observations: Surface and atmospheric climate change. In Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, et al. (eds.): Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007; 235-336.
Wilbanks TJ, Romero LP, Bao M, et al.: Industry settlement and society. In Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, et al. (eds.): Climate Change 2007: Impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability: Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007; 357-390.
AlBattat AR, Mat SA: Emergency preparedness for disasters and crises in the hotel industry. Sage Open. 2010; 3(3): 2158244013505604.
Tan A: The impact of hurricanes on supply and demand: What owners and investors of Florida hotels should know. Consulting report by HVS International. 2006. Available at https://www.hospitalitynet.org/file/152002742.pdf. Accessed July 9, 2021.
Tourism Economics: The impact of Hurricane Irma on the Florida Tourism Economy. A report prepared for Visit Florida. 2018. Available at https://www.visitflorida.org/media/46680/fl-hurricaneimpacts.pdf. Accessed July 9, 2021.
Palmer B: Resilient Puerto Rico is open for visitors. Professional Convention Management Association. 2020. Available at https://www.pcma.org/puerto-rico-earthquake-recovery-business-events/. Accessed July 9, 2021.
Ivkov M, Blešic´ I, Janic´evic´ S, et al.: Natural disasters vs hotel industry resilience: An exploratory study among hotel managers from Europe. Open Geosci. 2019; 11(1): 378-390.
Lagiewski R: How the hospitality industry plays a vital role in relief efforts when disaster strikes. GreenBiz. September 18, 2019. Available at https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-hospitality-industry-plays-vital-role-relief-efforts-when-disaster-strikes. Accessed July 9, 2021.
International Trade Association: Travel, tourism, & hospitality spotlight: The travel, tourism, and hospitality industry within the United States. Available at https://www.selectusa.gov/travel-tourism-and-hospitality-industry-united-states. Accessed July 9, 2021.
Iverson RD, Deery M: Turnover culture in the hospitality industry. Hum Res Manag J. 1997; 7(4): 71-82.
Desmond M, Gershenson C: Housing and employment insecurity among the working poor. Soc Probl. 2016; 63(1): 46-67.
Fereday J, Muir-Cochrane E: Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: A hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. Int J Qual Methods. 2006; 5(1): 80-92.
Allen R, Toder F: A model of organizational recovery. J Emerg Manag. 2004; 2(1): 41.
Bruneau M, Chang SE, Eguchi RT, et al.: A framework to quantitatively assess and enhance the seismic resilience of communities. Earthq Spectra. 2003; 19(4): 733-752.
Patriarca R, DiGravio G, Costantino F, et al.: An analytic framework to assess organizational resilience. Saf Health Work. 2018; 9(3): 265-276.
Colussi M: Overview of community resilience models and toolkits. Transition United States. Available at http://www.tranzsitionus.org/sites/default/files/Overview%20of%20Community%20Resilience%20Models%20and%20Toolkits%20(1).pdf. Accessed July 9, 2021.
VERBI Software: MAXQDA 2020 online manual. Available at maxqda.com/help-max20/welcome. Accessed July 9, 2021.
Mamane D, Dietzel L, Wolf M, et al.: Businesses already strained by COVID-19 should prepare for hurricane season. The Real Economy Blog. July 22, 2020. Available at https://realeconomy.rsmus.com/businesses-already-strained-by-covid-19-should-prepare-for-hurricane-season/. Accessed July 9, 2021.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright 2007-2023, Weston Medical Publishing, LLC and Journal of Emergency Management. All Rights Reserved
