Foundation Year Research Project: COVID-19 Impact on Premier Inn

This research project analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of the hospitality industry, focusing on Premier Inn. It identifies the challenges faced by Premier Inn due to the pandemic, including reduced sales, revenue losses, and operational difficulties. The project explores strategies implemented by Premier Inn to mitigate these challenges, such as shifting operations online and enhancing safety measures. The findings reveal a significant decline in hotel occupancy and revenue, highlighting the profound impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality sector. The research utilizes a positivism research approach with inductive reasoning, relying on secondary data sources to provide a comprehensive analysis of the situation and the effectiveness of the strategies employed by Premier Inn.

Something related to
tourism and hospitality
such as restaurant or
hotels

Table of Contents
Chapter One................................................................................................................................................3
Topic: “To analyze the impact of COVID-19 on performance of hospitality industry”. A study on
Premier Inn..............................................................................................................................................3
Introduction:............................................................................................................................................3
Aim:........................................................................................................................................................3
Research objectives:................................................................................................................................3
Research question:...................................................................................................................................3
Research problem:...................................................................................................................................3
Chapter Two................................................................................................................................................5
Methodology...........................................................................................................................................5
Gantt Chart:.............................................................................................................................................5
Chapter three..............................................................................................................................................7
Literature review.....................................................................................................................................7
The impact of COVID-19 on management and performance of premier Inn...........................................7
The issue faced by Premier Inn due to COVID-19..................................................................................7
The strategies and practices adopted by Premier Inn to overcome with the issue faced due to COVID-
19.............................................................................................................................................................7
Chapter Four................................................................................................................................................8
Present findings.......................................................................................................................................8
Analyze and summarize findings.............................................................................................................9
Chapter five...............................................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................................................11

Chapter One
Topic: “To analyze the impact of COVID-19 on performance of hospitality industry”. A study on
Premier Inn.
Introduction:
Currently, COVID-19 has become a major issues at global level. It has direct influence in
the performance of business. Hospitality is one of the most affected industries by pandemic. Due
to the travel restrictions and strict lockdown tourism industry suffered a lot (Čikić and Rajačić,
2021). The present study is based on analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on tourism industry in
terms of sales, revenue, profit and more. For this purpose, Premier Inn is taken into consideration
which is a well-known hospitality organization of UK. It was founded in 1987 and operate at
various locations such as airports, city centers and more. The study will evaluate how the
pandemic is affecting the performance of the respective company.
Aim: The aim of the present research is “to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on performance of
hospitality industry”. A study on Premier Inn
Research objectives:
 To identify the impact of COVID-19 on management and performance of premier Inn.
 To examine the issue faced by Premier Inn due to COVID-19.
 To determine the strategies and practices adopted by Premier Inn to overcome with the
issue faced due to COVID-19
Research question:
 What is the impact of COVID-19 on management and performance of premier Inn?
 What are the issue faced by Premier Inn due to COVID-19.
 What are the strategies and practices adopted by Premier Inn to overcome with the issue
faced due to COVID-19
Research problem:
The present research topic is about identifying the problems caused by COVID-19. It will
evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the tourism industry which has become a major issue in
current time.

Chapter Two
Methodology
 Research Philosophy: For the purpose of current study, positivism research approach
has been implemented as it is based on the quantitative and numerical analysis thus
produces authentic and reliable results in an efficient manner (Bresler and Stake, 2017).
 Research Approach: Inductive approach has been implemented in the present study as it
is based on evaluation of an existing theory and framework rather developing the new
one.
 Research Strategy: For completion of the current research, survey research strategy has
been selected as it helps in collection of detailed information so that the pre-defined
research goals can be accomplished.
 Research methods: In research, there are two methods are implemented majorly which
are quantitative and qualitative (Kumar, 2018). For the purpose of present study,
quantitative analysis has been used as it will help in collecting and analyzing the
numerical information in an efficient manner.
 Data collection: In the field of research, there are two major way of collecting the data
and information which are primary as well as secondary. In context of the given study,
information is collected from secondary sources such as authentic websites, journals,
articles and more.
Gantt Chart:
It is a tool that is used to define the roles and responsibilities of different people
associated in the project work in order to facilitate clarity. It is a graphical tool which makes it
easy to understand the roles & responsibilities in terms of completion of project work (Bairagi
and Munot, 2019). Further, it also defined the schedule, deadlines so that the project work can be
completed in timely manner.

Chapter three
Literature review (300):
The impact of COVID-19 on management and performance of premier Inn
According to Chi, Saldamil, Gursoy, 2021, Due to the impact of COVID-19 management
of the company is required to modify their practices. Being in the hospitality industry, they need
to present at hotel to manage the day to day working (Lai and Wong, 2020). The pandemic
adversely affected the entire hospitality industry. Due to the restriction on travel, lock down, they
face deep decline in bookings which affected the revenue of company directly (Smart and et. al.,
2021). In addition to this, the entity also has to minimize the existing work force as they are not
earning sufficient money to pay the expenses. In addition to this, they need to put major focus on
cleanliness and hygiene within the premises which enhanced the overall cost at certain level
(Anguera-Torrell, Aznar-Alarcón and Vives-Perez, 2020).
The issue faced by Premier Inn due to COVID-19.
According to Dogra, 2021. The COVID-19 has been created as uncertain environment
hence, the business managers of hotels face ample of difficulties in terms of survival in the
current uncertain situations (Japutra and Situmorang, 2021). According to the prediction of
United nations world tourism, the international tourism will reduce down by 20% to 30% in 2020
comparatively to the past years (Burhan and et. al., 2021). In addition to this, premier Inn faced
issues of lack of resources, job losses, lack of revenue and more. Also, the international flights
was on halt which directly affected the number of bookings in hotel. Therefore, several issues
faced by the company due to the surge of COVID-19 (oshi and Gupta, 2021).
The strategies and practices adopted by Premier Inn to overcome with the issue faced due to
COVID-19
According to Romashko, 2020, There are ample of strategies used by Premier Inn to deal
with the impact of COVID-19. For this purpose, they shifted majority of their options online
such as bookings, check in and check out, payment and more (Agarwal, 2021). It reduced down
the personal touch which is important to curb the transmission of virus(Manuel and Herron,
2020). In addition to this, they also arranged training sessions for the workforce so that they can
work in the uncertain environment created by the COVID-19 (Li, Yao and Chen, 2021).

Chapter Four
Present findings
The impact of COVID-19 on management and performance of premier Inn
The COVID-19 has direct impact on the performance of hotel. During the pandemic,
restrictions imposed on the national and international travels which affected the sales and
revenue of hotel. It affected the sales and profitability of hospitality companies. In addition to
this, now, people are likely to avoid to visit to the another cities that affect the room bookings in
the hotel.
Figure: The impact of COVID 19 on hotel occupancy
From the above diagram, it is found that COVID-19 put a major impact on the hotel
demand. It is analyzed that in May 2020, the hotel demand was 12% which was 59% in 2019.
The graph demonstrates that the demand of hotel drastically reduced in 2020 due to the impact of
pandemic. In Dec 2020, the demand was 10% which further reduced in 2021. As a result, the
demand constantly reduced and reached at the point of 4% in February 2021 (The impact of
COVID-19 on hotel occupancy on the books, 2020).
The issue faced by Premier Inn due to COVID-19

COVID-19 has been created several issues for the premier Inn. It drastically affected the sales
and revenue of the organization by enhancing the travel restrictions and lockdown.
The above diagram demonstrates that revenue losses of hospitality organization during
COVID-19. It is analyzed that nearly 45% companies faced loss of nearly 10000 to 50000 Euros.
On other side, 10 % companies books loss of between 50,000 to 100,000 Euros. There are 1.8%
companies which faced loss of more than 500,000 Euros due the adverse impact of COVID-19
(What hotels must learn from hospitals for the new reality of tourism).
Analyze and summarize findings
It is analyzed that the hotel industry is the majorly affected industry by the COVID-19.
The pandemic has imposed restrictions on the international travel. Apart from this, strict
lockdown was imposed in the country. It reduced down the number of bookings of premier Inn
which affected their overall sales and profit margin in a negative manner. In addition to this, the
pandemic also enhanced the requirement of cleanliness and hygienic facilities in the premises
which is enhancing the overall expenses of the organization. Due to this, ample of people lost

their jobs as the hospitality organization did not have the sufficient funds to pay the expenses. It
affected their capabilities of managing daily operations efficiently.
The premier Inn faced various challenges due to the impact of COVID-19. Majorly, they
witnessed changes in their daily operations. Also, faced issue of potential and classified staff.
However, the company prepare several strategies in terms of use of recent and updated
techniques to minimize the personal interaction. These strategies helped the company in dealing
with the issue of COVID-19.
Chapter five
Conclusion
It is concluded from the above-mentioned information that COVID-19 influenced the
hospitality industry in a profound manner. It directly affected the sales and revenue of the
industry and also caused job losses. There is discussion regarding the strategies used by the
company in order to deal with the after impact of COVID-19 in terms of using digital
technologies, enhancing the safety measures, training to the employees and more.

References
Books and journals
Agarwal, P., 2021. Shattered but smiling: Human resource management and the wellbeing of
hotel employees during COVID-19. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 93, p.102765.
Anguera-Torrell, O., Aznar-Alarcón, J.P. and Vives-Perez, J., 2020. COVID-19: Hotel industry
response to the pandemic evolution and to the public sector economic measures. Tourism
Recreation Research, pp.1-10.
Bairagi, V. and Munot, M.V. eds., 2019. Research methodology: A practical and scientific
approach. CRC Press.
Bresler, L. and Stake, R.E., 2017. Qualitative research methodology in music education. Critical
essays in music education, pp.113-128.
Burhan and et. al., 2021. Crisis management in the hospitality sector SMEs in Pakistan during
COVID-19. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 98, p.103037.
Čikić, J. and Rajačić, A.B., 2021. Work-Family Conflict During the Pandemic--Induced State of
Emergency in Serbia: The Female Perspective. Polish Sociological Review, (216).
Japutra, A. and Situmorang, R., 2021. The repercussions and challenges of COVID-19 in the
hotel industry: Potential strategies from a case study of Indonesia. International Journal
of Hospitality Management, 95, p.102890.
Joshi, V.A. and Gupta, I., 2021. Assessing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on hospitality
and tourism education in India and preparing for the new normal. Worldwide Hospitality
and Tourism Themes.
Kumar, R., 2018. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage.
Lai, I.K.W. and Wong, J.W.C., 2020. Comparing crisis management practices in the hotel
industry between initial and pandemic stages of COVID-19. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management.