Crisis Management During the SARS Threat: A Case Study of the Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong

Crisis Management During the SARS Threat A Case Study of the Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong

No one could have predicted the outbreak of SARS and its impact on the tourism business. Within a fortnight, hotel occupancy dropped by more than 80% to a single digit record. The hotel industry in Hong Kong was largely caught unprepared, and had to quickly work out ways in which to mitigate the los...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of human resources in hospitality & tourism Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 47 - 57
Main Authors: Leung, Paul, Lam, Terry
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 30-09-2004
Subjects:
crisis management
hotels
human resources
SARS
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:No one could have predicted the outbreak of SARS and its impact on the tourism business. Within a fortnight, hotel occupancy dropped by more than 80% to a single digit record. The hotel industry in Hong Kong was largely caught unprepared, and had to quickly work out ways in which to mitigate the loss of business and profit. This paper identifies the impact of SARS on hotels in Hong Kong, and the relevant human resources strategies used to tackle the crisis. The findings show that unpaid leave and involuntary separation were the most common immediate solutions adopted by the hotels.
ISSN:1533-2845
1533-2853
DOI:10.1300/J171v03n01_05