Business models Post-Corona

This Project is about business models post the Corona pandemic. The Corona pandemic has struck a significant blow to the global economy. Currently, there are few enterprises that have not been heavily affected by the pandemic. It poses a significant challenge to the current business model paradigm held throughout several industries. This holds especially true for the hospitality sector, where hotels, airline companies and other operators have seen a dramatic plunge in the number of customers and revenue. The question that remains is how this pandemic has affected, and will continue to effect, the way the hospitality companies operate their business. The last part is what we wish to explore.

Impact caused by the Corona pandemic

The idea about this project is to investigate the impact caused by the Corona pandemic on the current hospitality market, and how it will shape the markets in the following years. Our basic hypothesis is that the disruptive behavior of the pandemic will challenge present business models. In this process an underlying business model paradigm that has been present during several decades in the hospitality sector. We expect an increasing focus sustainability and an increased focus on aligning future business models with sustainable goals. Therefor, an increased focus on future business models post Corona will also influence the hospitality companies working more sustainably in the future.

Teaching materials on business models post Corona

The overall outcome of the project will be the production and dissemination of learning and teaching materials (online and offline). This material will include business models  in the hospitality sector in the Nordic/ Baltic countries post Corona. These online and offline materials will be used in several ways, and influencing the different target groups. The primary target group for the dissemination of the learning and teaching materials are DMO’s (destination management offices) and their members. It will also include teachers and educators from Vocational schools and from University Colleges, tourism operators and tourism agencies. The secondary target groups are Hotels, restaurants and hospitality researchers.

The online outcome will be a website which will be accessable in the years after the project has ended. The target group will be able to use the tools and the analysis which was created in this project. A psychical book will be printed and distributed to the target audience, and it will also be available in PDF version on the website.

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• Development of the industry and new trends are an integral part of our knowledge base, and this will be greatly supported through the production of new knowledge in this project.
• All the material that is produced through this project is integrated in Theme 4 and Theme 3 on AP and BA level
• The project’s primary target groups are actors from the industry, and the purpose of producing knowledge is that it should flow to the target groups listed under “Impact” further down in the application.

Milestone 1:

WHAT: Analyzing the hospitality industry post Corona and suggesting new business models.

WHEN: Duration: 1/8 – 2021 to 1/6 – 2022

EXPECTED OUTCOME: To analyze the changes incurred by the Corona virus on the hospitality

sector (Past, present and future). Initially, a thorough analysis of the hospitality sector post Corona

will be conducted in order to understand the prevailing business models within the hospitality sector.

The second step will be an analysis of the current situation in the hospitality sector and the changes

that have occurred a as consequence of the Corona virus. The third, and last step in this part of the

project, will be a forecast on the future business models in the hospitality sector as a consequence

of the expected strategic paradigm shift that has occurred due to the impact of the Corona virus. We

expect, that sustainability and sustainable solutions will have an ever increasing impact on the proposed

business models post Corona. Sustainability is, thus, expected to play a vital role, when trying to predict

viable future business models for actors within the hospitality sector. Our approach to working with

sustainability as a part of business models post Corona will primarily be based on the concept of ” The

Triple Bottom Line”, which encourages companies to focus on people, planet and profit.

Milestone 2

WHAT: Developing teaching and learning material on business models post-corona

WHEN: Duration 1/6 – 2022 to 1/12 – 2022

EXPECTED OUTCOME: In this Milestone, we will “translate” the analysis from Milestone 2 into

tangible and workable teaching and learning material for the target group. Focus will be on creating an

understanding of the impacts of the Corona virus on current business models in the hospitality sector,

and how to proactively and innovatively engage in the opportunities offered by the new situation in the

future. The teaching and learning material will focus on mixing the overall understanding of the strategic shift

post Corona with a predominance on hands-on exercises that will enable the target group to apply

the knowledge gained from this project.

Milestone 3

WHAT: Dissemination of teaching and learning material to the relevant target groups in each country

through workshops held in the partner countries. The primary target groups for the dissemination of

the learning and teaching materials are DMO’s (destination management offices) and their members,

teachers and educators from Vocational schools and from University Colleges, tourism operators and

tourism agencies.

WHEN: Duration 1/12 – 2022 to 1/3 – 2023

The overall approach in this project is based on the Pragmatic Worldview where the researcher is not committed to one specific philosophy, but rather oriented on problem solving which also translates into the choice of a convergent parallel mixed methods as the preferred research design.  

The research design is predominantly convergent parallel mixed methods as both quantitative (surveys from Visit Denmark and other DMO’s) and qualitative (interviews and focus groups with people from the hospitality sector) data are collected and analyzed simultaneously.

In order to determine the past and present situation within the hospitality sector information will be collected from several sources:

• Market rapports from DMO and interest organizations within tourism on the development in the markets.
• Current and future “The University in Reykjavik” with whom we have established at collaboration concerning Covid-19 impact on the Icelandic market.

Current and future research from “SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences” with whom we have established a collaboration concerning the overall impact of Covid-19 on the European market.

The overall outcome of the project will be the production and dissemination of learning and teaching materials (online and offline) on business models post Corona in the hospitality sector in the Nordic/ Baltic countries. These online and offline materials will be used in several ways, and affect the different target groups. The primary target groups for the dissemination of the learning and teaching materials are DMO’s (destination management offices) and their members, teachers and educators from Vocational schools and from University Colleges, tourism operators and tourism agencies. The secondary target groups are Hotels, restaurants and hospitality researchers.

The online outcome will be a web page that can be accessed in the years after the project has been concluded, where members of the target group can use the tools and the analysis created in this project. Likewise a psychical handbook will be printed and distributed to the target group, and also be available in PDF version on the web page.