Therefore, hotel has faced issue in retaining their visitors and tourists because they have made

mindset to stay at home rather than going out due to global pandemic COVID-19.

Structure of the dissertation

Introduction: The primary chapter of the existing study is introduction which gives
overview of the proposed topic so that proper base can be made in a proper way. This also covers
the aim, objectives and questions of the research which need to be attempted. Along with this
rationale and purpose of the study are also highlighted so that reader can easily understand
motive behind conducting the study.
Literature Review: The second chapter is literature review which covers the second-hand
information about the proposed topic. This section holds great significance as it addresses each
research question with high quality content. The sources used in the study are: books, journals,
newspapers, articles, publications and so on.
Research Methodology: This is the chapter which gives research methods for the
accumulation and examination of information. The present study uses qualitative research
methods which majorly focus on accumulating theoretical piece of information. Inductive
approach, interpretivism philosophy, case study strategy etc. are used to accumulate data as per
the requirement of investigation.
Data analysis and discussion: This chapter mainly focuses at carrying out relevancy and
accuracy of gathered qualitative data. Thematic analysis is used in the study as an analysis tool
because it assists in carrying out accuracy of qualitative piece of information.
Conclusion and recommendations: The conclusion chapter gives brief summary of each
chapter so that reader can easily understand every chapter. After conclusion, certain
recommendations are suggested to selected company so that they can overcome all those
challenges which they are facing and operate in a better to meet their organisational goals.
LITERATURE REVIEW
It is the chapter that majorly focuses on highlighting the opinions and views of different
authors regarding the topic. This chapter addresses each question of the investigation in a
systematic way so that it can be completed with accurate and relevant information. This chapter
is mainly dependent over secondary sources such as books, newspapers, journals, articles,
publications, already conducted interviews and surveys.

What are the main challenges faced by Premier Inn London during the period of Covid 19?
As per the perspective of Aigbedo (2021), due to pandemic hospitality industry faces
various challenges which creates an impact on the productivity and growth of business. The
crisis has shut down the world's economy overnight. Hospitality industry has faced
unprecedented challenges due to COVID 19 as they faced issues related to the community lock
downs, stay at home orders, social distancing and travel & mobility restrictions which results in
closure of hospitality business (Alyahya and et. al., 2021). Hotels and restaurant were closed due
to crisis as people were not allowed to travel and go to restaurant. The hospitality industry is first
industry which gets influenced since the restrictions for overseas or domestic travelling directly
create an impact on their core business. These challenges have created a great impact on the
performance of Premier Inn but it also brings new way of working. The few challenges which
are faced by hotel during the period of pandemic are as follows:
Retaining and attracting employees:
Retaining and attracting employees is one of the issues which is faced by hotel during
crisis. It becomes difficult for Premier Inn to attract and retain top performers within workplace
in pandemic. For remaining competitive in market, it is important to have talented staff with
strong skills, qualities and knowledge (Aguiar-Quintana and et. al., 2021). In the tough time of
COVID 19, employee expectation is changing and growing. It is necessary for Premier Inn to
keep up with latest trends for attracting and retaining staff. In order to retain employees,
company is focusing on employee wellness, keep culture alive, provide flexible schedule and
organise fun or social activities in order to reduce the stress or anxiety of staff.
Re-opening challenges:
Re-opening challenges is also an issue which is faced by Premier Inn in the tough time of
COVID 19. When there is ease in restrictions, company faces issues related to re-opening.
Premier Inn have to re-frame their strategies and plans in order to operate business in post
pandemic. They have to keep employees and customer safe and also ensures that their buildings
are working properly before re-opening. While continuing the operation activity of business,
Premier must focus on using business continuity plan and virus transmission prevention plan so
that they can welcome their guest and employees again. Premier Inn have to develop the
strategies through which they can gain competitive advantage in market in post pandemic and
improve their profitability (Birtch and et. al., 2021). The priority of hotel while re-opening
should be employee and customer safety, security and cleaning, food safety and attracting
customers.
Health and wellness:
Health and wellness are also a problem which is faced by hospitality industry during
pandemic. The growing and important trend within hospitality industry is to promote health and
wellness for customers and employees. It is important for Premier Inn to focus on health and
wellness of guest and staff due to increasing demand of more sustainable accommodation and
organic foods. People generally prefer the hotel that ensures their safety and health so that they
can remain safe from the spread of pandemic (Napierała, Leśniewska-Napierała and Burski,
2020). By implementing health and safety practices, Premier Inn can reduce cost, minimise risk,
attract guest, lower employee absence and build reputation in market.
Technology:
Technology is another challenge which Premier Inn faces during pandemic and it also
influences the growth of business. Due to COVID 19 companies are adopting new and advanced
technology in order to remain competitive and running business activity in effective and efficient
manner. Premier inn is focusing on adopting new social distancing measures and cleanliness by
implementing electronic check-ins and check out so that their guest may not have to come to
front desk to avail the key of rooms. In order to reduce the spread of disease, Premier Inn are
implementing new technologies such as contactless service, payment via apps, self-check-ins and
online ordering. In pandemic, hotel faces challenge related to providing good customer
experience. By using technologies within workplace, Premier Inn can provide better customer
service to its customer and ensures their health and safety (Nhamo, Dube and Chikodzi, 2020).
During COVID 19, hotel has also created a great presence on social media platforms. They are
focusing on using live promotion in various live streaming platforms in order to help their guest
to get detailed, completed, accurate, timely, reliable and selective data related to hotel. Premier
Inn is also adopting facial check-in services with AI temperature checks. The pandemic has
promoted companies to adopt contactless options. Hospitality industry is also using robots for
F&B room services and housekeeping deliveries so that they can increase social distancing and
reduce the number of employees that must physically come to work.
Building trust among customers:
The other challenge which is faced by Premier Inn during the pandemic is building trust
among customer. It becomes challenging for hotel to build trust among customer as they have
fear of travelling and living in hotel due to safety and health issues. It is necessary to build trust
among guest so that they can book the room and avail hospitality services. By building trust,
Premier Inn can encourage guest to enjoy their vacation with hotel. It is important to ensures the
safety and health of customer so that they can enjoy their trip in post pandemic and also give
their positive reviews.

Illustration 1: PRE-COVID REVENUE OF UK

HOTEL
 The above graph depicts about the revenue which is generated by hospitality industry
from 2019 to 2022. UKL hospitality needs more than 2 years in order to improve their
profitability.

How Covid 19 has impacted on the business growth and success of Premier Inn London?
As per the opinion of Lin and Chen (2021), pandemic has created a huge impact on the
business growth and success of hotel. The hospitality industry is dealing with various challenges
due to the disruption caused by the global pandemic.

The hotel industry is adopting new standards, rules and values which is influencing the social
behaviour and changing the behaviour of consumers in terms of travel and tourism services. Due
to closure of boundaries, travel restriction and lock-down measures, the hotels are facing worst
result in recent history. They are facing financial loss and closures of hotels which creates a level
of uncertainty which they have never experienced. Thus, it becomes important for hospitality
industry to look ahead and confront the new environment that is emerging. Premier Inn is
focusing on adapting various factors that are shaping their future. It becomes important for
hospitality industry to adopt new trends in order to remain competitive (Dimitrios and et. al.,
2020). The pandemic has changed the way of working which creates an impact on the growth
and success of business. Government has imposed lock-down and restrictions due to which
people were not allowed to travel which leads to reduce in income source and profitability of
Premier Inn. The travel restriction has cancelled the booking, closed accommodation, cancelled
events and closed the hotels and restaurant. Due to the restriction placed on stay at home and
travel orders which are issues by government has led to sharp decline in hotel revenue and
occupancies. The pandemic has brought positive as well as negative impact on the hospitality
industry.
Illustration 1: Performance Indicators

The above graph depicts that the performance and profitability of hotel is declining day
by day due to pandemic. Due to the lockdown and travel restriction imposed by the government,
the average booking of per rooms is declining due to which Premier Inn is facing huge loss. The
revenue per available room is declining by-27.7%. It becomes difficult for hotel to attract and
retain the potential customer due to which the revenue generation of hotel is decreasing.
The outbreak of COVID 19 has led hospitality industry to adopt new approaches,
strategies and bring innovation while working. Hotels have adopted new technologies in order to
remain competitive and engage more and more customers. The use of digital technologies within
hotel has increases its performance and growth. There are various technologies which are used
by the hospitality industry such as AI voice assistants and smart rooms, machine learning, AI
systems, virtual reality travel experience and booking system and rising contactless solution in
hospitality (Chen, Huang and Li, 2022). Premier Inn has adopted these technologies in order to
improve their performance and productivity. Through these technology, Premier Inn attracts
maximum number of guests towards the hotel and ensures their safety and health. The hotel has
started to install artificial intelligence voice assistants such as Amazon Echo and Alexa in order
to update the room as smart room. Use of this technologies do everything from searching for
local attraction and switching off light. During the pandemic, the contactless service becomes the
priority of Premier Inn due to which the demand of AI technology increases. The advanced
technology helps in providing safe and attractive service to its customers and also gather and
analyse the information. Premier Inn is using AI assistant in order to gain competitive advantage
during their economic recovery. By using machine learning and AI, hotel is developing better
ways for forecasting demand and increasing occupancy rates. These technologies are important
for Premier Inn as it helps in minimising cost and maximising profit during the post pandemic
recovery period.
Hospitality industry also faces various negative impact due to pandemic which influences
their performance and growth. The outbreak of pandemic has badly affected the operation and
functions of hotels. The travel restriction and social distancing policies which are authorised by
government has dramatically affect the industry. Premier Inn is facing low occupancy rate and
also the revenue is declining. The hotel has recorded decline in bookings due to the health and
safety issues. They are also facing issues related to workforce, employees are switching their job
due to lack of resources and income. It becomes challenging for Premier inn to retain their top
performers in pandemic and make them feel engaged while working remotely. The hotel also
faces financial issues due to crisis, as they have adopted new technologies in order to cope up
with the impact of pandemic. COVID 19 has led to decrease in sale, offering remote working,
implementing digital technologies, issues relate to managing employees and providing services
to guest.
What are the effective ways that Premier Inn London has used for overcoming the challenges of
Covid 19 on their business growth and success?
As per the perspective of Cheung and et. al., (2021), it becomes important for the
hospitality industry to overcome the impact of crisis as it affects the profitability and productivity
of business. The impact of pandemic has influenced the performance of hotel due to which it
becomes challenging to gain success in competitive environment. COVID 19 has led Premier Inn
to revise their refund policies, faces issues related to cancellation and waived fees due to
reservation changes. The crisis has changed the experience of customers due to which hotel has
to reimagine the customer experience in order to survive in new normal. There are various
effective ways through which Premier Inn can overcome the challenges of pandemic on their
business growth and success are as follows:
Adopting advanced technologies:
It is one of the strategies through which Premier Inn can overcome the impact of crisis
and increase the growth and success rate of hotel. During the pandemic, remote working
becomes the norm. Employees are working remotely due to the technology and innovation.
Premier Inn is adopting cloud-based technologies in order to control their operational activities at
any time form anywhere. With the use of cloud technology, Premier Inn can easily transfer few
jobs completely remote working such as e-commerce, sales related position, digital marketing
and business development position. Company is also focusing on using AI and machine learning
technology for attracting more and more guest towards the hotel. For grabbing the attention of
people in crisis situation, Premier Inn has also created great presence on social media platforms.
They have started promoting their business live on live streaming platforms. Through social
media platforms, Premier Inn can reach to maximum number of customer and create awareness
among them related to health and safety policies adopted by hotel.

Ensure hotel maintenance and renovation:

Ensure hotel maintained and renovation is another strategy through which hotel can
mitigate the negative influence of pandemic and improve their growth and success rate. It
becomes important for Premier Inn to maintain the activities of business and focus on renovation
in order to run the business activities in effective and efficient manner (Joshi and Gupta, 2021). It
is essential for hotel to prepare list of things, items and consider everything that needs to be
repaired. They must ensure that their laundry room system, elevators, pool systems, railing and
balcony, life safety checks and many other things must be properly checked so that customers
may not face difficult while pots pandemic. While re-opening the hotel, it is important to
conduct deep cleaning in order to maintain the safety and hygiene within Premier Inn. The
renovation of hotel helps in attracting large number of guest and also it helps in maintaining
safety practices. Premier Inn have installed sanitising machine on their entrance so that they can
eliminate contact point and also provide truly touchless experience.
Reconsider existing health and safety techniques, procedures and policies:
In the pandemic situation, it is necessary to adopt appropriate health and safety policies
within hotel as it helps in reducing the spread of disease. Premier Inn is promoting health and
safety measures by including self-service pay systems, non-contact service and order deliveries,
suspension of unnecessary work place gatherings, readiness to deal with staffing reductions and
complementary hand sanitiser stationed at entrance and exists. Hotel is also closely monitoring
the health conduction of employees and taking precautionary actions in order to eliminate the
spread of disease. The health and safety policies help in encouraging the staff and customer to
avail the services of hotel without taking stress or anxiety of spread of disease.
Engage customer actively:
It is also a way through which Premier Inn can overcome the influence of pandemic and
increase their growth and success rate in competitive market. People generally enjoy restaurant
meal, day at the ballpark and hotel stay. In the tough time of pandemic, it becomes important for
hotel to engage their customer actively in order to improve the profitability and growth of
business. Along with adopting stringent new cleaning protocols and implementing physical
distancing measures, it is also important to connect actively with customers and communicate
effectively with consumers in order to protect their health and safety. Premier Inn must focus on
using social media posts, emails and You Tube videos to explain and show their customers what
measures they are taking to keep their customers and employees safe while reopening hotel. In
order to welcome their guest back, Premier Inn must also focus on offering incentives, discount
and special offers.
Focus on meal delivery from hotel restaurant:
It is another strategy which must be implemented by Premier Inn London in order to
reduce the negative impact of pandemic. Hotel must ensure that they deliver the meal to its
customer by focusing on safety and hygiene so that disease cannot be transmitted and also they
feel safe while having the meal of Premier Inn. The packaging of hotel must be good that attracts
maximum number of people to place their meal order.

What are the benefits has gained by Premier Inn London by overcoming the impact of Covid 19
on their business growth and success?
According to Liu and et. al., (2021), hospitality industry has majorly impacted by the
outbreak of global pandemic COVID-19 because some hotels have closed permanently and some
have close closed their business operations temporarily or reduced their capacity of operations.
As per the nature of hotel it is quite obvious that it gathers people together. So, it shows that
people move from one place to another and touch different surfaces. Hotels have focused on
decreasing every touchpoint and limiting exposures of the guests so that spread of COVID-19
could be easily controlled. Hotels such as Premier Inn has focused over adapting quickly to meet
demands of the customers in relation to COVID-19, especially if they need to benefit from the
likely travel resurgence. Not only will this advantage operations during the present global
pandemic, but it would prepare the whole hotel from the potential outbreaks. There are many
strategies adopted by hotel to improve deal with the outbreak of global pandemic are: adoption
of advance technologies, laying-off employees, avoiding gatherings, remote working, hotel
maintenance & renovation and many more. With all these strategies there are many benefits that
are gained by hotel which are briefly explained below:
Maintaining safety of employees and customers: Hotel such Premier Inn has formed
many health policies so that safety of customers and employees could be managed and controlled
in the workplace (Izadi, Foroudi and Nazarian, 2021). With these policies hotel has maintained
social distance among employees working in the organisation and also among customers who
were visiting hotels after re-opening. This has assisted in gaining trust of the employees as it has
created mind-set among them that their health and safety is priority for the hotel. Customers have
also shown interest in the hotel as they become aware that hotel is following all the measures to
maintain the health and safety of customers.
 Increasing occupancy rates: The other benefit gained by hotel with the help of strategies
adopted by them in increase in occupancy rates of the hotel. When customers have seen the
social media posts of the hotel that they are using various measures to maintain the safety of
customers and employees then this has created positive impact over their mind-set that if they
book room in these hotels for their vacations post COVID-19 then they will be safe (Spanaki,
Papatheodorou and Pappas, 2021). This has helped in increasing the occupancy rates of the hotel
and ultimately assisted in increasing the profit as well as revenue level even in the toughest time
like global pandemic COVID-19.
Improving business operations and productivity: One of the common benefits
experienced by the hotel with the assistance of strategies adopted by them is improving business
productivity and operations. During COVID-19, hotel has used advance technologies and they
have focused more on offering e-learning to employees so that they can do their assigned duty
and responsibility by considering each safety measure. With the adoption of advance
technologies, morale of employees working in the hotel have increased as they have created
mind-set that they are safe while working as there is very minimum gathering and physical
touch. Thus, when morale of employees is high, they put their best efforts to provide great
services to customers and which has also led hotel to increase occupancy rate and profit level.
Effective and attractive marketing: This helps in dealing with the situation of covid-19
pandemic in a better way as it helps in gaining more customers in the market. By attractive
marketing the customers will feel attached with the product which helps in increasing the overall
sales of the product and services in the competitive market. It works in the company by
providing valuable and detailed information about the particular item before convincing
customers to purchase (Agustina and Yosintha, 2020). By effective marketing the company
analysis all the elements of the business in order to ensure that the following strategies related to
marketing are with the accordance with the goals of the business in the time of pandemic
situation.
More innovation and technology: With the adoption of new technology, the company
can bring new and innovative ideas which helps in improving the performance and productivity
of company and employees both in the time of pandemic situation globally. With the surge of
Covid-19 in the economy most of the customers are moving towards online platforms for
purchasing products and services of a particular company (Kim and et. al., 2021). Technology
helps in designing new plans and websites which helps in delivering better and innovative
products that helps in attracting more customers in the time of tough pandemic situation.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is a term which defines the way through which research data is
collected and evaluated. It helps researcher to identify what type of data must be collected and
what type of information must not be gathered (Camic, 2021). Research methodology is
designed in such a way that helps investigator to accomplish the research in effective and
efficient manner. Researcher uses different types of research methods in order to collect relevant,
reliable and accurate information related to the current investigation (Mohajan, 2018). The few
types of methods which helps investigator while conducting investigation are researcher
approach, research philosophy, research choice, research strategy, data collection and many
others.
Research approach:
It is a research method which is used by the investigator in order to collect relevant
information related to the research study (Tanwir, Moideen and Habib, 2021). Research
approach helps researcher to gain detailed data about the chosen topic so that research can be
completed in significant way. It is classified into two sort such as inductive and deductive
approach. For achieving the aims and objective of research, investigator has chosen inductive
approach (Ngozwana, 2018). The cause of selecting inductive approach is that it focuses on
measuring qualitative piece of information within particular time period. By choosing this
approach, researcher can explain the relationship between concepts and variables. It also lay
emphasis on developing new theory and analyse the information in order to fit into existing
theory.
Research Philosophy:
Research Philosophy is another method of research through which data is collected for
predicting the results. It is divided into two different types such as interpretivism and positivism.
For collecting the data in effective and efficient manner, interpretivism philosophy is chosen.
The research philosophy tool helps in attaining the research objectives and aims in appropriate
way. It assists in measuring and evaluating qualitative data which is present in the form of
subjective (Basias and Pollalis, 2018). The outcomes which are availed by the researcher through
using interpretivism philosophy are in subjective form rather than in general form. This
philosophy provides an opportunity to investigator to accumulate accurate and reliable
information related to the particular study.
Research strategy:
Research strategy helps in rolling up the information related to the current topic i.e. effect
of covid19 on the business growth and success of UK hospitality industry in significant way. In
order to gather information, there are different types of research strategy such as survey,
interviews, systematic literature review, experimental research, action research and many others.
The researcher has focuses on choosing systematic literature review method for accumulating the
information related to the research (Daniel, 2018). Systematic literature review is an effective
research strategy which helps investigator to conduct the investigation by using existing theories
and materials. The main intention of using this strategy is that it evaluates and sum up the
existing data in order to develop sum of knowledge related to current investigation (Bleiker and
et. al., 2019).
Research Choice:
Research Choice is an instrument where data is collected on the basis of the need and
requirement of the investigation. It becomes necessary for the researcher to identify the right
research choice so that the desired aims and objective of investigation can be achieved in
successful manner. Research choice is divided into two parts such as qualitative research choice
and quantitative research voice (Gear, Eppel and Koziol-Mclain, 2018). In the current
investigation, the researcher has shown dependence on qualitative research choice. This research
choice helps investigator to gather accurate and relevant data related to current topic so that the
research can be completed in appropriate manner. Through qualitative research choice, the data
can be gathered in qualitative way according to the need and requirement of research.
Data collection:
Data collection is a process through which information is accumulated, measured and
analysed in right manner. It is mainly classified into two types such as primary and secondary
data collection method. Primary data collection method helps in gathering first-hand information
through different sources. On the other hand, secondary data collection method collects second
hand or existing information related to the subject matter. Within this investigation, the
researcher has laid emphasis on secondary data collection method as it helps in achieving the
objective of investigation in accurate manner (Urcia, 2021). The sources which are used for
accumulating secondary piece of information are magazines, articles, books and publication. By
gathering data through secondary sources, researcher can avail relevant and reliable information
related to the research topic.
Time horizon:
Time Horizon defines the particular time period which is required by the researcher for
completing the investigation in effective and efficient way. It is divided into two parts such as
longitudinal and cross-sectional time horizon. Cross sectional is one of the effective time horizon
tools which is implemented by researcher in order to attain the research objectives and aims. The
major reason behind selecting cross sectional time horizon is that it helps in gathering
information in minimum time period due to which investigation can be accomplished in
systematic manner (Valtakoski, 2020). Through focusing on cross sectional method, researcher
can compare multiple variables at same time. Investigator has not chosen longitudinal time
horizon as it takes more time to gather the data.
Ethical consideration:
Ethical consideration is one of the important aspects which must be considered by the
researcher in order to complete the investigation in easier and effective manner. It is necessary
for the researcher to accomplish the investigation in ethical way so that aims and objective can
be attained in better manner. In the current investigation, investigator has properly credited and
cited secondary information in appropriate way (Daniel, 2019). The few principles of ethics are
minimising the risk of harm, avoiding deceptive practices and protecting anonymity and
confidentiality. Thus, it is necessary to follow the ethical practices in order to complete the
investigation in effective and efficient manner.
DISCUSSION
Challenges faced by Premier Inn London during the period of Covid 19
With the assistance of information assembled in the section of literature review this can
be simply discussed that global pandemic COVID-19 has made hospitality industry to sustain.
This has directly hit the growth and productivity of the hotels working under hospitality industry
because this crisis has made hotels to shut their whole business operations overnight. This
industry is largely dependent over travellers and visitors but due to outbreak of COVID-19
Government of every country has imposed lock down restriction which made people to stay at
only place. This ultimately resulted in permanent closure of hotels and restaurants. This is the
industry which suffered more because travelling was mainly banned and people were also
focusing towards cancellation of their advance bookings. This impact has created many
challenges for Premiere Inn but it has also opened doors for new methods to conduct business
operations. Some of the challenges identified are: attracting and retaining employees, re-opening
challenges, technology, health & wellness and many more.

Illustration 1: Hotels RevPAR (Rooms Revenue per Available Room) 2019-20

There is no doubt that global pandemic COVID-19 has created dramatic impact over
businesses of hotel. The suitable words for describing the situation of COVID-19 within hotel
are unique and unprecedented. As per the information recorded in literature review it is
understood that in earlier stages of global pandemic COVID-19, hotels were forced to lay-off
employees due to lack of funds and operations. It is also identified that during COVID-19,
expectations of employees have also changed as they want to work in flexible hours so that they
can work without any anxiety or stress.
Illustration 1: Noticeable Recovery Forecast from 2021 – Back to 2019 Levels by 2024
The other challenge identified of hospitality industry is re-opening challenges during global
pandemic COVID-19. When Government has eased lock-down restrictions, hotels faced
difficulties in re-opening the hotel with proper safety measures for employees, visitors, food
safety etc. The other difficulty faced by hospitality industry during COVID-19 is forming health
and wellness policies so that safety of employees & visitors can be put as a priority.
Covid 19 has impacted on the business growth and success of Premier Inn London
As per the data assembled in the chapter of literature review, it is analysed that global
pandemic COVID-19 has created a decisive impact over the growth and success of hotel.
Hospitality industry has dealt with many challenges due to outbreak of global pandemic COVID-
19. Many hotels were forced to adopt new standards, values and rules so that they can make
tourists to build positive behaviour and opinions even in tough times like global pandemic
COVID-19.
Illustration 1: UK Hotels: Occupancy rate forecasts for UK Hotels by region
By closing down boundaries, imposing travel restrictions and following lock-down measures,
hospitality industry has faced worst situation in recent history. They have faced financial loss as
well as permanent closure of hotels due to high level of uncertainty. Hence, it has become quite
significant for hospitality industry to look for many ways so that they can face this challenge and
continue with their business operations effectively and efficiently. The hotel Premier Inn also
focused on many factors so that they can shape future accordingly and gain great success. Due to
outbreak of global pandemic COVID-19, hotels were forced to adopt new technologies and
trends so that they can remain competitive in the market and gain attention of the existing as well
as new customers.
Illustration 1: Percentage change in hospitality footfall due to to the coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic in the United Kingdom (UK) from February 20 to March 20, 2020*
The outbreak of global pandemic has totally changed the way of operations which has
helped them to maintain balance between growth and success of the business. The Government
of the United Kingdom has imposed many restrictions which has led people to stay at their home
only and ultimately reduced the source of income as well as profitability of hotel Premier Inn.
Restrictions on travel made visitors and tourists to cancel their all-advance bookings due to
cancelled events and temporary closure of hotels and restaurants.
It is also identified that hospitality industry of the United Kingdom has adopted various
new approaches, innovation and strategies so that they can successfully deal with the negative
impact of COVID-19. Hotels have focused over adopting new and advance technologies so that
physical touch of people can be decreased and most of the operations can be completed with the
assistance of these technologies. The usage of advance technologies has also helped to maintain
their growth and performance. Hospitality industry has adopted Artificial Intelligence voice
assistants, machine learning, virtual reality travel experience, booking systems and smart rooms
so that operations and functions can be easily completed without having greater strength of
human employees. With the assistance of advance technologies Premiere Inn provides safe
environment to customers as well as employees. This has helped hotel to gain competitive edge
at the time of recovery of whole economy from global pandemic COVID-19.
Effective ways that Premier Inn London has used for overcoming the challenges of Covid 19
on their business growth and success
With the help of above-mentioned information in the part of literature review, it is
interpreted that it has become significant for the hospitality industry to overcome the negative
impact of COVID-19 so that productivity and profitability of the hotel could be maintained.
COVID-19 pandemic impact has influenced the performance and profitability of the hotel as
they were struggling to continue their business operations in this tough situation. Premier Inn
was facing the challenge in formation of refund policies, safety policies and many more. This
pandemic has created mindset among customers that that in this situation travel needs to be
avoided then only COVID-19 can be controlled. Some of the significant ways discussed in the
section of literature review are: adoption of advanced technology, hotel maintenance &
renovation, reconsidering current health and safety techniques, policies & procedures, engaging
customers actively and many more.
The greatest and effective strategy adopted by hotel during COVID-19 is adoption of
advance technologies and techniques in the hotel. Hotels have provided remote working to all
those employees who are working at management department. It has also adopted cloud-based
technologies which have helped in managing operations and functions of the hotel from remote
working locations. Hotel has also adopted Artificial Intelligence and machine learning for
providing trainings to employees so that they can perform their responsibilities by considering
each and every safety measures of global pandemic COVID-19. Hotel has used social media
marketing to inform visitors and tourists about the current state of working and all the measures
they are taking to provide safety to employees as well as customers. Social media has helped
hotel to connect with their existing as well as potential customers and they also provided them
information about the adoption of advance technologies so that physical touch in hotel could be
reduced.
 The other strategy adopted by hotel is ensuring and reconsidering existing safety and
health techniques, policies and procedures. This is the greatest strategy for hotels as it has helped
in giving priority to health and safety of employees as well as customers. With the assistance of
health and safety policies hotel has focused on reducing the spread of global pandemic COVID-
19. Hotel has included non-contact services, suspension of workplace gatherings, staff
reductions, installing hand sanitisers and masks at the exit and entrance of hotel, self-service pay
systems and many more. Hotels have focused on closely monitoring each employee's health
condition so that right action can be taken at required time. These health policies have also
created mindset among employees and customers that hotel is giving great importance to health
and this has also their stress and anxiety level.
Another greatest way adopted by hotel is engaging customers actively so that they can
actively take part in the activities of hotel. For this hotel has adopted social media marketing
strategy so that they can be engaged with the activities and this includes informing them about
each policy and procedure they are using to reduce the negative impact of global pandemic
COVID-19. The hotel focuses on continuously posting information through social media posts
and highlighting measures to maintain safety in the workplace.
Benefits have gained by Premier Inn London by overcoming the impact of Covid 19 on their
business growth and success
As per the above gathered information it is being analysed that there are various benefits
which are availed by hotel while overcoming the impact of the pandemic. The few advantages
are maintaining safety and health of employees, increasing occupancy rates, improving
productivity and more innovation and technology. These are the benefits through which the
performance and productivity of Premier Inn increases. Hotel have adopted new health and
safety policies in order to maintain the safety and security of employees and customers. It
becomes important for Premier Inn to focus on health and safety of staff and guest by
maintaining social distancing and checking the vaccination certificate of each and every person.
Through implementing the strategies for overcoming the impact of pandemic, the productivity of
Premier Inn also increases. The increase in productivity helps in attaining competitive edge and
also attract maximum number of customers towards the hotel. The productivity of hotel increases
when they create awareness among audience regarding the safety and health practices adopted
and also it is necessary to build trust among them. Occupancy rate also increases when hotel
adopts different strategies and ways for overcoming the impact of COVID 19. When the
occupancy rate increases, the profitability and number of booking also gets improved.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
It is being concluded from the above information that the pandemic has badly hit the
hospitality industry due to which they face severe loss. Hospitality industry is one of the fastest
growing industries within all the sectors. But the pandemic has influenced the performance and
growth of hospitality industry. The different issues which are faced by hospitality industry are
changing demands of customer, re-opening issues, health and wellness, technology, competition
and sustainability. These are the challenges which can influence the productivity and growth of
business. It becomes important for the hotel to attract and retain their employees. In pandemic,
staff are losing and switching their jobs. It becomes difficult to attract and retain the staff in the
tough time of crisis. The expectation of staff is growing and changing, is is necessary for hotel to
understand the need and preference of employees in order to retain them. The high turnover rate
influences the performance and efficiency of company due to which it becomes challenging to
achieve competitive advantage in market.
For attracting and retaining the employees, it is essential to follow the latest trend and
ensure the safety of staff so that they can give productive outcomes in achieving the business
goals and objective. Company has also implemented various measures in order to retain their top
performers such as keeping culture alive, developing positive working environment, providing
flexible schedule, employee wellness and organising fun or social activities. Hospitality industry
is also facing challenges regarding the re-opening, it is important for hotel to reframe their
strategies in order to cope up with the influence of COVID 19. With the ease of the pandemic
restriction, hotel is focusing on developing new policies and strategies so that they can run the
business activity in effective and efficient manner. The priority of hotel is to safeguard the
employees and customer and generate trust among them so that they can avail the services of
hotel. The virus transmission plan and continuity plan are designed by the hotel in order to
prevent the people from spread of disease and welcome their consumes and staff again. It is
important to develop the strategies through which hotel can achieve competitive edge and
improve their profitability in post pandemic. While re-opening the operational activity, security
and cleaning, employee and customer safety, food safety and attracting customers become
important for hotel.
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