Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on UK Hospitality: Marriott Hotels Study

This report investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organizational performance of the UK hospitality industry, with a specific focus on Marriott Hotels. It identifies the challenges faced by the industry, such as mass cancellation of bookings and difficulties in maintaining operational efficiency due to imposed restrictions. The report examines the negative impact on Marriott's financial and human resource outcomes, including reduced revenue and training disruptions. Furthermore, it explores the measures implemented by Marriott to mitigate these challenges, such as booking window strategies, virtual training programs, and adoption of online payment modes. The research utilizes qualitative and secondary research methods to gather and analyze information, concluding that the pandemic significantly affected the hospitality industry and emphasizing the importance of hygiene protocols and safe working environments to maintain organizational performance.

Foundation Year Research Project

Table of Contents
STAGE 1: PLANNING.............................................................................................................3
Research Topic.......................................................................................................................3
Research Background.............................................................................................................3
Research Aim.........................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives...............................................................................................................3
Research Problem...................................................................................................................3
Research Questions................................................................................................................4
Research methodology...........................................................................................................4
Gantt chart..............................................................................................................................4
STAGE 2: CARRYOUT YOUR RESEARCH..........................................................................6
Literature review....................................................................................................................6
What are the challenges faced by UK hospitality industry after the break of covid 19
pandemic?...........................................................................................................................6
What is the impact of Covid 19 on organisational performance of Marriot hotel?...........6
What are the measures used by Marriot hotel to mitigate the challenges faced at the time
of Covid 19 pandemic?.......................................................................................................6
Presentation of findings..........................................................................................................6
Summarisation of findings.....................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................9
Books and journal...................................................................................................................9

STAGE 1: PLANNING
Research Topic
To analyse the impact of covid 19 on organisational performance of UK hospitality
industry.
Research Background
Organisational performance refers to measuring actual result of the company against
the standard set. It refers to analysing organisational performance in respect to the objective
set so that goal can be attained. The performance of the company is measures against four
intended areas which are human resource outcome, financial outcome, capital market result
and product market outcome (Tu, Li and Wang, 2021). Covid 19 was the time were all the
activity of the company largely affected which impact the organisation a lot. It was very
tough for the business to perform their activity in smooth manner.
To know the impact of Covid 19 on organisational performance the chosen hotel is
Marriott. Marriott is an international hospitality brand. The organisation was founded in the
year 1957 by J. Willard Marriott. The headquarter of the Marriot is located in Bethesda,
United States.
Research Aim
To analyse the impact of Covid 19 pandemic on the organisational performance of UK
hospitality industry: A study on Marriot hotels.
Research Objectives
 To discern the challenges faced by UK hospitality industry after the break of covid 19
pandemic.
 To examine the impact of Covid 19 on organisational performance of Marriot hotel
 To identify the measure used by Marriot hotel to mitigate the challenges faced at the
time of Covid 19 pandemic.
Research Problem
The major research problem that is identified in the investigation is that at the tine of
Covid 19 many restrictions were imposed by the government of the nation. Due to which
preforming the business operation becomes tough (Filimonau, Derqui and Matute, 2020).
Due to less customer company is not earning revenue and the expenses are higher. This
affects the organisational performance in negative manner.

Research Questions
 What are the challenges faced by UK hospitality industry after the break of covid 19
pandemic?
 What is the impact of Covid 19 on organisational performance of Marriot hotel?
 What are the measures used by Marriot hotel to mitigate the challenges faced at the
time of Covid 19 pandemic?
Research methodology
It is one of the important chapters in the research because it helps in providing the
method which is used to gather and analyse information. The present investigation will be
using qualitative research methods in order to extract theoretical information. This
investigation also collected data from secondary sources (Mukherjee, 2019).
Qualitative research method: Qualitative research is the process of accumulating and
analysing non numerical information. It helps the investigator to carry out the investigation in
theoretical manner. In this method the information is in the form of words, statement, text.
This type of method is used when quantitative data is not available (Bairagi and Munot,
2019). Through the helps of qualitative research opinion, thoughts, idea, views of the authors
are being analysed in order to conduct the study in deeper way. The main advantage of the
selected method is investigation is done in depth manner by gathering deeper data in shorter
time duration.
Secondary research method: It is the method in which second hand information about
the investigation is being collected. In this methos previous data that is already collected by
various investigator or author is being used. The main advantage of this investigation is that it
helps in finding the research gap between various study (Mahuika and Mahuika, 2020).
Another benefit of using this method is data can be obtained in less time and cost. As well as
there are various sources through which data can be gathers. Some of them are books,
journal, articles, published report, online website and many more.
Gantt chart
It is a project management tool which focuses on identify the task need to be done in
the study. It is a graphical representation of various activity conducted in the investigation.
Gantt chart aid the researcher in a way that each and every activity is conducted according to
the given time and date (Palombarini and Martínez, 2021). This chart also shows the staring
time and ending time of the activity as well show the dependent task. The main purpose of

using Gantt chart in the research is to attain the objective in effective and efficient manner.
Gantt chart is being designed in such a manner that activity are broken into smaller task and
also assign them the time.

STAGE 2: CARRYOUT YOUR RESEARCH
Literature review
What are the challenges faced by UK hospitality industry after the break of covid 19
pandemic?
As per the view of Bajrami and et. al (2021), there were many challenges that were
faced by hospitality industry after the outbreak of Covid 19. The foremost challenges that
they faced is mass cancellation of booking and accommodation. As lockdown were imposed
and many restrictions on travelling was made. Many tourists have to cancel their booking
which decreases their sale. Next challenge that they faced is paying salary to their workers
even when the income was zero. Many projects of the hotel were called off due to high loss.
Providing training to their employee was also become impossible which affect their
organisational performance.
What is the impact of Covid 19 on organisational performance of Marriot hotel?
According to the opinion of Kaushal and Srivastava (2021), Covid 19 has negatively
impact the organisational performance of Marriot hotel. The first impact was on their
financial outcome as at the time of pandemic the sale was low due to which hotel is not able
to earn revenue which impact their profitability position. The second impact is on human
resource. As proper training was not able to provided to the employee which affect their
human resource outcome in large manner.
What are the measures used by Marriot hotel to mitigate the challenges faced at the time of
Covid 19 pandemic?
In the view of Wong and et. al (2021), Marriot hotel has used various effective measure
to mitigate all those challenges which were faced by them at the time of Covid 19 pandemic.
The first measure that is adopted by Marriot is booking window. Through this they trach the
time of their guest from the day they made the reservation to the day they arrive the hotel.
This helps them to manage their revenue management in greater manner. The second measure
that they adopted is providing virtual training to their employee so that they can improve their
human resource outcome in sound manner. Another measure that they used is adopting
various online payment mode so that they can reduce the fear of interaction and provide safer
environment to their guest.
Presentation of findings
Theme 1: Challenges faced by hotels during Covid 19

From the above secondary data, it is being discussed that during the time of covid 19
Hospitality industry has faced lot of challenges which affect them a lot. At the time of
pandemic, it becomes difficult for the hotel to manage their organisational performance in
smooth and better manner. It is being analysed that Covid 19 was the time were almost all the
gate to earn revenue for the company was closed (Shin and et. al, 2021). High cancellation of
booking and accommodation from the guest were seen which creates problem as the sale of
the hospitality industry goes down. Another major challenge they face is high expenses as
compared to revenue. The revenue was lower and the hotel has to pay various expenses like
salary, electricity bill, maintenance charges and many more.
Theme 2: Impact of Covid 19 on Marriott organisational performance
With the assemble piece of information it is being analysed that the impact of covid
19 on organisational performance of the hotel was negative (Marco-Lajara and et. al, 2021).
The company has faced various issue which negatively impact their financial, product and
human resource outcome. Another impact was temporarily closer of their hotel due to
national lockdown.
Theme 3: Measures to mitigate the challenges of Covid 19
With the accumulated data it is being discussed that the hotel industry has adopted
various measure to mitigate the challenges faced during Covid 19. The first way they used is
booking window so that they can track the time between the actual reservation made to the
day they check in the hotel (Yu, Park and Hyun, 2021). Another measure that they use is
proper sanitising facility so that they can reduce the fear of risk among their employee and
customer.
Summarisation of findings
As per the above collected information it is being analysed that it is very important for
the company to improve their organisational performance. A good hygiene at the time of
Covid 19 has helped the industry to maintain their performance in terms of financial
outcome, capital market result and human resource result (Khan and et. al, 2021). Hotel has
built various protocol so that they can provide safe working environment to both their
employee and customer.

CONCLUSION
From the above accumulated data, it is concluded that the hospitality industry has
majorly affected by the outbreak of the pandemic. Covid 19 pandemic has negatively impact
their organisational performance. This industry is being affected because of strict restriction
imposed by the legal authority which restrict the traveller to move from one place to another.
Thus, this report has covered all the negative impact faced by the hospitality industry at the
time of Covid 19 pandemic.

REFERENCES
Books and journal
Bairagi, V. and Munot, M.V. eds., 2019. Research methodology: A practical and scientific
approach. CRC Press.
Bajrami, D.D., and et. al, 2021. Will we have the same employees in hospitality after all? The
impact of COVID-19 on employees’ work attitudes and turnover
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Filimonau, V., Derqui, B. and Matute, J., 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and organisational
commitment of senior hotel managers. International Journal of Hospitality
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Kaushal, V. and Srivastava, S., 2021. Hospitality and tourism industry amid COVID-19
pandemic: Perspectives on challenges and learnings from India. International journal
of hospitality management. 92. p.102707.
Khan, A., and et. al, 2021. COVID-19 and sectoral employment trends: Assessing resilience
in the US leisure and hospitality industry. Current Issues in Tourism. 24(7). pp.952-
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Mahuika, N. and Mahuika, R., 2020. Wānanga as a research methodology. AlterNative: An
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Marco-Lajara, B., and et. al, 2021. Hotel strategies in times of COVID-19: a dynamic
capabilities approach. Anatolia. pp.1-12.
Mukherjee, S.P., 2019. A guide to research methodology: An overview of research problems,
tasks and methods. CRC Press.
Palombarini, J.A. and Martínez, E.C., 2021. End-to-end on-line rescheduling from Gantt
chart images using deep reinforcement learning. International Journal of Production
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Shin, H., and et. al, 2021. The impact of hotel CSR for strategic philanthropy on booking
behavior and hotel performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism
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Tu, Y., Li, D. and Wang, H.J., 2021. COVID-19-induced layoff, survivors’ COVID-19-
related stress and performance in hospitality industry: The moderating role of social
support. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 95. p.102912.
Wong, A.K.F., and et. al, 2021. How the COVID-19 pandemic affected hotel employee
stress: Employee perceptions of occupational stressors and their
consequences. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 93. p.102798.
Yu, J., Park, J. and Hyun, S.S., 2021. Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees’
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