REBUILDING TOURISM FOR THE FUTURE: CRISIS MANAGEMENT OF

UPSCALE HOTELS IN CABANATUAN CITY

A Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of the College of Tourism Management
ABE International College of Business and Accountancy,
Burgos, Cabanatuan City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management

By
Janessa Jaspe
Eduardo Soriano
Rye Allaine Pajar
Nicole Valenzuela
Jezreel Joy Mangayan

June 2021
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, along with the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs), sustainable tourism is firmly positioned. The tourism

industry’s involvement is recognized in the SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

and SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Tourism can be a powerful tool

to “devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and

promotes local culture and products” and to “develop and implement tools to monitor

sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism which creates jobs, promotes

local culture and products” (World Trade Organization, 2021).

However, one recent crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, has changed the world. The

tourism economy has been severely affected by a sharp weakening in the tourism sector

brought by the limitations such as lockdowns, travel restrictions, social distancing, and

closure orders. Aside from the pandemic-induced crises, the tourism industry is also at

risk to other crises such as political instability, terrorism, economic recession, and natural

disaster. Thus, crisis management studies should have been conducted to recognize

causes, impacts and practices to manage crises. Understanding a crisis and managing

the response are crucial to handle future challenges.

1
 The Department of Tourism reported that international and domestic tourist arrivals

in the first quarter of the year declined to P85 billion, 36% lower than the revenues in the

same period last year (PwC Philippines, 2020). Fortunately, domestic tourism, which

accounts for around 75% of the tourism economy is expected to recover more quickly

(OECD, 2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant risk, with a severe decrease in

demand for and interruption of operations in tourism, which demands urgent notice. As

mentioned in the study “The repercussions and challenges of COVID-19 in the hotel

industry: Potential strategies from a case study of Indonesia” by Japutra and Situmorang

(2021), there are two necessary steps to handle such a pandemic in the future (Faulkner,

2001; Law, 2006; Sigala, 2011): assessing the risk and preparing a contingency plan for

any hotel crisis.

The present research, therefore, would like to contribute to the growing body of

evidence suggesting that preparing a crisis management plan is necessary. The focus of

this study is the hotel industry in Cabanatuan City. The objective of this paper is threefold.

The first objective is to describe the existing crisis management practices of the hotels in

Cabanatuan City. The study will concentrate on the practices during the preparedness

and protection phase, confrontation phase, and recovery phase from hotels’ perspectives.

Second, the correlation of the hotels’ business profile to the existing crisis management

practices will be concluded. Taking this together with the findings, the third objective of

this study is to develop a Crisis Management Plan that can also be used for future

research directions.

2
Background of the Study

Crisis and crisis management studies have numerous existing definitions, and

these are distinct and influenced by the specific discipline being studied.

An event that arises from unidentified triggers and with severe outcomes or

consequences is called a crisis. By contrast, Santana (2004) asserted that a crisis is a

process that develops by its logic as opposed to being an event. It is also characterized

as “behavioral phenomena that are socially constructed by the actors involved and are

parts of larger processes rather than separate events” (Bundy, Pfarrer, Short, and

Coombs, 2017).

Crisis has been used interchangeably with other terms such as disaster, calamity,

tragedy, and catastrophe. To clarify the distinction, Hyndman and Hyndman (2016)

clarified the difference between a crisis and a disaster. On one hand, a crisis is considered

internal in nature, whereas an external environment is considered a disaster. It is also

defined as an occurrence of a sudden external event while organizations have little power

or control and to which they fail to respond.

Despite the numerous existing definitions, it is important to note that a crisis is

unpredictable and disruptive in nature. Thus, crisis management is a critical and crucial

part of management practices. As defined by Pearson and Clair (1998), crisis

management implies “actions and communications that organizations systematically

undertake to reduce the likelihood of a crisis, mitigate crisis impact, and reestablish order

after a crisis”.

3
 Leta and Chan (2021) concluded in their study “Learn from the past and prepare

for the future: A critical assessment of crisis management research in hospitality” that

marketing strategies and crisis management practices should focus on domestic and local

markets.

One of the recommendations of Smart, Ma, Qu and Ding (2021) from the study

“COVID-19 impacts, coping strategies, and management reflection: A lodging industry

case” is to develop strong operational protocols to survive extreme crises like the COVID-

19 outbreak. This is recommended by the management of the two hotels after realizing

that certain market segments are not existing or not reliable during a pandemic.

Moreover, assessing their resilience to crises and developing a collaborative plan are also

suggested to successfully cope with crises.

The COVID-19 crisis provides a good opportunity to understand how domestic

markets manage their situation during a crisis. It is important to note that the absence of

crisis management strategies could result in business closure or could result in loss of

lives and properties. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the

importance of having an effective crisis management practice. If, as the present studies

suggest, domestic tourism should review and assess their crisis management plan, then

there is a need for research that explores domestic tourism in the Philippines, specifically

the sector that provides travelers with shelter, food, refreshment, and similar services and

goods, the hotel industry.

The focus and scope of the research covers the crisis management practices of

the hotel industry in Cabanatuan City. These hotels will be classified according to their

4
nature of business, years in operation, sector, and annual revenue. The practices will be

described from the preparedness and protection phase, confrontation phase, and

recovery phase. The present study will also support the hypothesis that there is

correlation between the hotels’ profile and crisis management practices. The results of

this research will provide supporting evidence that may help the hotel industry to develop

or improve their crisis management plan.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored with Tony Jacques (2007) who took the issue with the idea

that crisis management is a linear process of sequential phases in which you manage

issues one at a time. Instead, he argued that important processes and activities often

overlap or occur simultaneously, such as crisis prevention and preparation, and don’t

always proceed in one direction.

As opposed to the lifecycle models, Jacques proposed that crisis management and

the field of issue management are related, integrated disciplines. Issues management

involves creating systems to deal with problems — while issues are more routine than

crises, they overlap because issues can become the source of crises if not properly dealt

with.

Jacques’ relational model has four primary elements — (1) crisis preparedness, (2)

crisis prevention [(1,2) preparedness and protection phase], (3) crisis incident management

[(3) confrontation phase], and (4) post-crisis management [(4) recovery phase]— each with

clusters of activities and processes. He concluded that understanding the relationship

5
among these elements, and putting them in context of larger organizational management,

diminishes crisis-related losses.

(1) (2)
Crisis Preparedness Crisis Prevention
Stage 1: preparedness and
protection phase

(4) (3)
Post-Crisis Crisis Incident
Management Management

Stage 3: recovery phase Stage 2: confrontation phase

Figure 1.1

Conceptual Framework

The figure mentioned in the proceeding page shows the paradigm of the study

(Figure 1.2). The primary goal for this study was to develop a crisis management plan for

the hotel industry in Cabanatuan City by exploring the strategies they use to survive a

crisis.

According to Jacques’ (2007) crisis management model, has four primary

elements: (1) crisis preparedness, (2) crisis prevention [(1,2) preparedness and protection

phase], (3) crisis incident management [(3) confrontation phase], and (4) post-crisis

management [(4) recovery phase], each with clusters of activities and processes. The four

steps examine a crisis as an extended event with sufficient warning signs that precede

the event. These were used to develop a framework that will comprehensively help

6
develop a crisis management plan for the hotel industry in Cabanatuan City to manage

future crises. The researcher was able to come up with a paradigm that described the

flow of the study.

The areas studied were the profile of the hotels and their practices in handling

crises, their best practices in managing problems, and the outcomes of the said practices.

The researcher followed how the relationship between these two variables could help

develop a crisis management plan for future situations these hotels might encounter.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Hotel Profile Questionnaire

Nature of adapted from Crisis
business Management
Years in Performance
operation Assessment
Sector Questionnaire in Crisis Management Plan
Annual revenue industries validated by
Lotfollahzadeh
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES Statistical Treatment
Preparedness
and protection phase
Confrontation
phase
Recovery phase

Figure 1.2

7
Statement of the Problem

The aim of the study is to assess how upscale hotels in Cabanatuan City manage

crises. The findings of the study shall be the basis on developing a Crisis Management

Plan to help rebuild tourism for the future.

Specifically, the study tries to answer the following research questions:

1. What is the profile of the hotels in terms of:

a. nature of business,

b. years in operation,

c. sector, and

d. annual revenue?

2. What are the crisis management practices of hotel owners in terms of:

a. preparedness and protection phase,

b. confrontation phase, and

c. recovery phase?

3. What is the correlation of hotels’ profile to crisis management?

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study focuses on the evaluation of crisis management practices of hotels in

Cabanatuan City within three phases: preparedness and protection, confrontation, and

recovery. The included variables are the profile of the hotels in terms of nature of

business, years in operation, sector, and annual revenue. This study serves the purpose

of not just assessing current crisis management strategies, but also developing a Crisis

Management Plan that could help rebuild tourism for the future.

8
 To satisfy the objectives of the study, a quantitative research will be held. The

distribution of survey questionnaires through online and data gathering will be conducted.

This study covers hotels around Cabanatuan City. There are 10 hotels reported by

the Cabanatuan City Local Government Unit. The LGU provided a list of hotels with 3-

star ratings and up.

The data will be gathered through a survey adapted from Crisis Management

Performance Assessment Questionnaire in Industries validated by Lotfollahzadeh, A. et

al. The collection of data will be held from July to August, 2021.

Significance of the Study

The significance of this study lies in its assessment of hotels’ crisis management.

It identifies the practices of the administration and management in terms of how they

prepare for, react, and resolve crises within their businesses. Specifically, this study

hopes to present a contribution to the following:

Hotel owners - This study will help them evaluate their current crisis management.

The Crisis Management Plan that will be developed based on the findings of this study

can fortify the hotels’ crisis management.

Hotel employees - This study is beneficial to the employees because they run and

operate hotels; they are at the direct line of crises. A Crisis Management Plan is essential

for their safety and security.

9
 Local community - As customers, they will benefit from hotels with a good Crisis

Management Plan because it means that transactions will be safer, smoother, and more

secure.

Lawmakers – The findings of this study can be a basis in creating regulations that

can streamline the creation of a standard Crisis Management Plan.

Future researchers – This study will serve as a reference to students who will

conduct research studies about crisis management of hotels.

Tourism Courses Instructors – This study will serve as a reference for their

curriculum.

Definition of Terms

Annual revenue - is the money a company receives by providing services or selling goods

to customers

Cabanatuan City - a first class city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines, with a

population of 302,231 people

Confrontation phase - This stage begins when a trigger unleashes the crisis event. This

phase entails the activation of crisis managers and their plans

COVID-19 - an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus that spreads

primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person

coughs or sneezes

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Crisis - the potential to lose time and money or otherwise not be able to accomplish an

organization’s goals

Crisis management - typically stipulates the chain of command, standard operating

procedures, and communication channels the organization will use during an emergency

Crisis Management Plan - courses of action for very unusual or crisis situations

Hotel - provides travelers with shelter, food, refreshment, and similar services and goods

Hotel Industry - specializes in providing customers with lodging services

Nature of business - the service that the hotel provides, either lodging, meals,

entertainment, and various personal services for the public

Preparedness and protection phase - This covers the period between first signs and crisis

eruption. During this period, crisis managers should be proactively monitoring, seeking to

identify signs of a brewing crisis, and trying to prevent it or limit its scope

Rebuilding the future - an act of building something again after it has been damaged or

destroyed; evaluating the status quo to create sustainable processes and procedures

hereafter

Recovery phase - This encompasses the lasting effects of the crisis, such as after a flood

or a hurricane, when teams repair damage to buildings and roads. It also represents the

end of the crisis and a time for internalizing what went wrong through root-cause analysis

and implementing changes to ensure no repetition

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Sector - the external business environment composed of numerous outside organizations

and forces

Tourism - the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual

environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other

purposes

Years in operation - Number of years that the business has been active.

12
 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Introduction

This section focuses on important findings about the global tourism industry and

crisis management practices. The studies mentioned in this section are the coherent

whole of different studies from different countries of origin.

Since tourism is prone to unpredictable risks and threats, effective crisis

management processes are required. This section examines action plans of local and

international tourism businesses. Theoretical groundwork has also been laid out. The

tourism industry’s response to the effects of COVID-19 pandemic were also covered.

Lastly, insight for future crises were provided based on studies on how the industry

perceived and reacted to these critical periods.

Issue and Crisis Management Theory

The term issues management is coined by Howard Chase (1976, as cited in Seitel,

2007):

“Issues management is the capacity to understand, mobilize, coordinate and

direct all strategic and policy-making functions, and all public affairs/public relations skills,

toward the achievement of one objective: meaningful participation in the creation of public

policy that affects personal and institutional destiny.”

13
 Issues and crises have reciprocal relationships. An issue can create a crisis, and

at the same time, a crisis can create an issue to deal with. If the issue is not handled

effectively, it can turn into a crisis. In other words, if effective issue management is done,

it is less likely to be faced with a crisis. Therefore, in the issue’s management process,

there is a need for anticipation of emerging issues. This scanning can be considered as

pre-crisis planning.

Image restoration (repair theory): Benoit argues that image restoration strategies

are reputation repair strategies that can be used after a crisis. Successful crisis resolution

requires honest and ethical communication in times of concern. Image restoration theory

offers several crisis response strategies. This can range from “denial” to “evading

responsibility” and to “reducing offensiveness,” and there are several options to select

from these strategies. The theory developed by William Benoit evolved over the years.

The core concept of the theory states that an attack can threaten reputation (image). An

offensive act or accusation of responsibility for the act is a threat to reputation, and the

theory uses communication to defend its reputations Smith (1990, as cited in Coombs,

2010).

Apology, corporate apologia: Apology and apologia are not similar. Apologia, as

another communication response strategy, is more than an apology. By using apologia,

the organization explains clearly and tries to convince the stakeholders that it is right

(Smith, 1990). Apologia is a counter-description where the person/organization defends

itself to create more good content for the allegations. Four strategies can be used when

an organization is accused of wrongdoing. These are denial (not involved in any

wrongdoing), bolstering (reminding of good things that have been done), differentiation

14
(remove the action from its harmful content), and transcendence (place the action in a

new and favorable context) (Ihlen, 2001, as cited in Coombs, 2010).

Attribution theory: Attribution theory highlights and emphasizes the communication

and media dimension and the importance of public relations in crisis management. It

explains how people make sense of events. When an event happens, especially when

this is a negative event, people try to determine why the event occurred. People will make

attributions of responsibility for events. When applied to a crisis, stakeholders will

contribute to crisis responsibility internally (organization) or externally (environmental

factors). Logically, if the stakeholders attribute blame to the organizations for the crises,

they will have more negative images of the organization and vice versa. This theory is

audience-based and attempts to understand the factors in the crisis itself that shape the

crisis attributions stakeholders make (Wise, 2002, as cited in Coombs, 2010).

The contingency theory of conflict management tries to explain an organization’s

communication with its public groups and specifies the various factors that affect this

communication. It has the concept of “stance,” which implies how an organization

responds to competition and conflicts with other parties. Stances are on a continuum, and

at one point of the continuum, there is advocacy and at the other end is accommodation.

When an organization argues for its interest, it is advocacy, and when the organization

makes concessions to other parties, it is accommodation (Shin et al., 2005). Contingency

theory applied to crisis demonstrates the similarity between the stances and the crisis

response strategies of image repair and SCCT (Coombs, 2010). Contingency theory

offers additional variables to consider, such as threat type and threat duration.

15
 All these stated theories liken the unfolding of Steven Fink’s (1986) four-stage

model of crisis management consisting of the prodromal, acute, chronic, and resolution

stages.

These four stages were discussed by Coombs (2010) in his study:

The prodromal stage covers the period between first signs and crisis eruption.

During this period, Fink states that crisis managers should be proactively monitoring,

seeking to identify signs of a brewing crisis, and trying to prevent it or limit its scope.

The acute stage begins when a trigger unleashes the crisis event. This phase

entails the activation of crisis managers and their plans.

The chronic stage encompasses the lasting effects of the crisis, such as after a

flood or a hurricane, when teams repair damage to buildings and roads. Finally, the

resolution stage represents the end of the crisis and a time for internalizing what went

wrong through root-cause analysis and implementing changes to ensure no repetition.

Thus, the theory of crisis management can be summed up as a thought-out plan

by an organization to minimize, manage, or avert a crisis when it arises. Prochazkova,

Prochazka, Santos, and Carvalho (2015, as cited in Eke, 2020) opined that crisis

awareness is a situation of corporate promptness to foresee and successfully address

internal or external factors. This could influence a crisis in an organization by deliberately

distinguishing and practically preparing for the unavoidable occurrence. However,

Alexander (2015, as cited in Eke, 2020) posits that irrespective of the kind of crisis,

whether man-induced, natural, or pandemic, emergencies cannot be predetermined. This

is because a crisis is seen as an undeniable interruption every organization is bound to

stumble upon at a point in their business; most times, crises crop up unexpectedly.

16
Crisis Management in Tourism

When a crisis strikes, one of the first to suffer is the hotel industry. Whatever the

form or the degree, the industry is susceptible to risks, threats, and crises. This

vulnerability to natural and human-induced incidents can be used as grounds in creating

firm and well-rounded crisis management plans.

Mones and Cruz (2015) conducted a study about crisis management programs in

the Philippine hospitality and tourism industry to see how prepared the hotels are in

coping with crises. They interviewed 15 hotel professionals who have an aggregate of

over 60 years of hotel experience and have occupied or are still occupying key positions

in their businesses. The study proved that a common type of crisis experienced by the

respondents is employee strikes. These strikes, according to the study, have affected the

business’ reputation, image, and revenues negatively. External crises are also

experienced, natural calamities being the most common.

The hotels turned out to be well-prepared for crises. There are crisis management

manuals that cover procedures and processes that employees must undertake during

critical times. These manuals include procedures that address strikes, fire, earthquake

and even floods. They would conduct exercises to test the preparedness of the

management and the employees as well as the various systems like the fire alarm

systems and the sprinkler systems and the readiness of the employees and the teams

formed to cope with such emergencies (Mones and Cruz, 2015)

Having an action plan for crises makes hotel businesses proactive and not

reactionary. However, an owner might struggle as to what to include in a crisis

management plan. In a study by Todman-Lewis (2017) entitled “Strategies of Crisis

17
Preparedness of Tourist Destinations”, that question was answered. The purpose of her

research was to remove disaster-induced fear and lessen physical and financial toll on

organizations and destinations. Data was gathered by conducting a semi-structured

interview with the central question being about the strategies destination managers used

for crisis preparedness to reduce business interruptions and improve destination image.

Results of the study show three themes that business owners should improve on:

(a) organizational preparedness, (b) operational preparedness, and (c) strategic

communication.

According to the study, some strategies to improve organizational preparedness

include identifying key personnel to lead and manage crises, conducting or participating

in crisis training, and developing a safety culture. Suggested procedures for operational

preparedness include devising an all-hazard crisis and emergency management plan for

organization and at-home use and planning for contingencies and business continuance.

Strategic communication strategies include communicating effectively before, during, and

following a crisis, collaborating, and exchanging information, and partnering with the

media (Todman-Lewis, 2017).

It has been established that a substantial crisis management plan in the hotel

industry is required in order to diminish the negative effects of crises in the lives and

livelihood of the individuals and community. In a review of 142 research papers on tourism

crisis management by Ritchie and Jiang (2019) however, it was found out that “literature

on business response and recovery are limited despite the prevalence of micro and small

businesses in tourism.” The resolution stage, which includes organizational learning,

18
knowledge management, and recovery strategies measurement, was found significantly

lacking.

Gani and Singh (2019) conducted a similar study where they critiqued 74 research

papers about the management of disaster and crisis in tourism. The research noted a

lack of formal crisis or emergency management plans and noticeable absence of a

standard operating framework of many tourism businesses pertaining to contingency

planning.

These gaps in literature and practices have been highlighted by COVID-19.

Economies, livelihoods, services, and opportunities have been affected, and hotels were

forced to evaluate their action plan in times of crisis.

Crisis Management Practices during a Global Pandemic

Crisis is unavoidable and thus, effective crisis management is essential to the

endurance and success of an industry. Earlier studies on epidemic crisis management

have indicated the severe effect on the hotel industry. In the research findings of SARS,

Au, Ramasamy, and Yeung (2005) found out that the SARS epidemic has left a

permanent impact on the number of tourist arrivals to 24 countries, including Japan,

Taiwan, the US and the UK, which are the main source of tourists for Hong Kong.

Henderson and Ng (2004) highlighted the importance of effectively managing and

planning by proposing guidelines based on the Singapore experience and an existing

framework for tourism crisis management.

In studies of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Joo, Maskery, Berro,

Rotz, Lee, and Brown (2019) supported previous findings that public health emergencies

19
due to traveler-associated outbreaks of infectious diseases can cause significant losses

to the broader economies of affected countries. Son and Kim (2017) suggested that a

proactive system approach oriented by safety is beneficial for effective crisis

management.

Thus, when COVID-19 happened, the tourism industry was expected and forced

to reassess the effectiveness of their crisis management. Alves, Lok, Luo and Hao (2020)

wrote a paper that provided a qualitative analysis from six local small businesses in

Macau, China. Results provided evidence that small businesses show high flexibility in

their reactions to the crisis because of formal crisis plan and strategy before the outbreak,

longer history experience in dealing with crisis and partly due to the low level of

bureaucracy and limited social responsibility compliance.

Pavlatos, Kostakis and Digkas (2021) conducted an empirical research on leading

hotels in Greece and found out five categories of crisis management practices that can

be used by the industry for its recovery. Government practices, marketing practices,

operations practices, cost reduction practices and pricing practices are identified.

However, it is important to note that the study found statistically significant

differences in the importance and use of hospitality crisis management practices based

on the characteristics of hotels. As one example, five-star hotels remain on providing

quality services through operational upgrades, investments in new technologies on health

and safety issues with customers.

Ka Wai Lai & Weng Chou Wong (2020) collected data from hotel managers in

Macau twice. It was found out that “in the initial stage, priority strategies should be applied

in all epidemic prevention, pricing, and maintenance practices and in two governmental

20
assistance and human resources practices. In the pandemic stage, all epidemic

prevention practices remain at the priority quadrant, but two pricing practices are

downgraded. Hotels tended to force labor into unpaid vacations (furlough) and postpone

office and system maintenance.”. The present study acknowledges the need to stimulate

further investigation for planning crisis management practices and to contribute to the

knowledge of contingency planning for crisis management across crisis periods.

Although these studies support that the epidemic crisis is an important topic for the

hotel industry, their most important contribution may be that they raise a variety of

intriguing issues for future study. First, most of the studies were conducted after, rather

than during, a crisis. Tallying the number of studies of crisis management practices in

different stages, most of the studies about crisis management were conducted after the

crisis. Though some of the studies were conducted to assess the impact of COVID-19,

there is still a lack of research examining the effective crisis management practices during

a crisis in the hotel industry. The present study represents a first attempt to address this

issue. Further research assessing the crisis management practices during the pandemic

may provide suggestions for future research and useful information for scholars, policy

makers, and hotel owners and employees.

Second, the urgency and gravity of COVID-19 pandemic urges a timely study

examining how the domestic hotel industry perceives and reacts to this crisis to provide

insight for future crises. This present study has a good value for domestic tourism crisis

research because it will be specifically conducted during the COVID-19 crisis at

Cabanatuan City. It would be useful to assess the crisis management practices of tourism

21
business owners for future research and useful information for scholars, policy makers,

and tourism managers, hotel owners and employees.

Third, since the pandemic has been evolving and has been continuing to put a risk

to travelers and tourists, crisis management practices cannot cope up. Much work

remains to be done before a full understanding of an effective crisis management plan is

established. The researchers will attempt to provide a crisis management plan for the

hotel industry at Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.

Synthesis and Relevance of the Reviewed Literature and Studies

The theory of crisis management can be summed up as a thought-out plan by an

organization to minimize, manage, or avert a crisis when it arises. It consists of four

stages, namely, the prodromal, acute, chronic, and resolution. According to Coombs

(2010), the prodromal stage covers the period between first signs and crisis eruption. The

acute stage begins when a trigger unleashes the crisis event. This phase entails the

activation of crisis managers and their plans. The chronic stage encompasses the lasting

effects of the crisis. The resolution stage represents the end of the crisis and a time for

internalizing what went wrong through root-cause analysis and implementing changes to

ensure no repetition.

This theory is the basis on the evaluation of crisis management strategies of

tourism businesses. A study on Philippine hospitality and tourism industry (Mones and

Cruz, 2015) shows that hotels are well-prepared in the prodromal stage only. There are

crisis management manuals that cover procedures and processes that employees must

undertake during critical times. On creating an effective action plan, Todman-Lewis

22
(2017) emphasized that tourism business owners should improve on three areas:

organizational preparedness, operational preparedness, and strategic communication.

These studies highlight the preparatory steps that the tourism industry must

undertake. When COVID-19 happened, the tourism industry was expected and forced to

reassess the effectiveness of their crisis management. The focus now was shifted on the

acute and chronic stages. How well business owners adapt to this global change may

determine the staying power of their livelihood.

Alves, Lok, Luo and Hao (2020) researched about six local small businesses in

Macau, China. Results show high flexibility in their reactions to the crisis because of

formal crisis plan and strategy before the outbreak and longer history experience in

dealing with crisis.

However, while there are businesses that thrived in the pandemic because of

effective action plans, there is still a lack of research examining the effective crisis

management practices during a crisis in the tourism industry. A study by Ritchie and Jiang

(2019) and Gani and Singh (2019) noted a lack of formal crisis or emergency

management plans and recovery practices.

The researchers attempt to address this issue through this study about crisis

management plans of hotel owners in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. This present study

has a good value for domestic tourism crisis research because it will be specifically

conducted during the COVID-19 crisis. Further research assessing the crisis

management practices during the pandemic may provide suggestions for future research

and useful information for scholars, policy makers, and tourism managers.

23
 Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

In this chapter, the researchers discuss the research design, area of study,

population, sampling technique, instrument for data collection, validation of the

questionnaire, administration of the instrument, and method of data analysis

The methodology the researchers will be using is descriptive correlational research

design to understand the crisis management practices within the hotel industry in

Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. To quantify the respondents’ crisis management

practices, an adapted survey questionnaire is used to gather data. To analyze and

interpret the data, SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is used as a tool to

perform statistical data analysis.

Research Design

This study utilizes the descriptive correlational research design. The descriptive

correlational design refers to the process that involves looking at relationships between

two or more variables. It is used to see if a relationship exists and the variables

themselves are not under the control of the researchers (Cherry, 2018). This study will

24
determine the relationships of the profile of the hotels and their owner's crisis

management practices.

The nature of descriptive correlational research is to describe the relationship of

two variables found in the data collected through a questionnaire that will undergo content

validation to check the relevance of the items to the purpose of the study and statistical

treatment.

Research Locale

This study will be conducted in selected hotels in Cabanatuan City. Cabanatuan

City is the largest city in Nueva Ecija and 5th in Central Luzon.

Cabanatuan City is located in the rolling central plains of Luzon drained by the

Pampanga river. The city is seated about 13 km west-southwest of the provincial capitol

located in Palayan City and 117 km north of Manila.

The city is the major economic, educational, medical, entertainment and

transportation center in Nueva Ecija. It has earned the moniker “gateway to North”.

Cabanatuan became a city by Republic Act No. 526, approved on June 16, 1950.

25
Population, Sample Size, and Sampling Technique

The researchers sought information about hotels in Cabanatuan City with 3-to-5

stars rating. According to the Local Government Unit, there are 10 hotels within the vicinity

that meet that standard.

A total of 10 hotels will serve as respondents from the hotel management industry

in Cabanatuan City to participate in this research. Hotels in Cabanatuan City were

evaluated in their crisis management practices within three phases: preparedness and

protection, confrontation, and recovery. The included variables are the profile of hotels in

terms of nature of business, years in operation, sector, and annual revenue.

The researchers will use total population sampling technique. This technique

involves examining the entire population that has a particular set of similar characteristics.

The data gathered from a total population often gives deeper insights than partial samples

would be capable of. It has the potential to allow a researcher to paint a much more

complete picture. It also eliminates the risk of biased sample selection that is often

encountered in would-be random study samples. In the context of the present study, total

population sampling will be used on hotel owners in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija to be

respondents.

26
Description of Respondents

The respondents in this research are 10 hotels in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.

This study is limited to hotels with three-to-five-star ratings. The hotels shall be

categorized by nature of business, years in operation, sector, and annual revenue.

Research Instrument

The research instrument consists of two sections. Section I of the survey

questionnaire contains questions that gather the profile of hotels in terms of nature of

business, years in operation, sector, and annual revenue. Section II involves survey

questions that investigate the crisis management practices of hotel owners in their

preparedness and protection phase, confrontation phase, and recovery phase.

The owners need to answer 47 questions about risk mapping, materials,

guidelines, and other pre-crisis management practices to evaluate the hotels in their

preparedness and protection phase. For the confrontation phase, 16 questions about

protective equipment, crisis team, and other emergency actions need to be answered.

There will be six (6) questions about measures of support for the recovery phase,

provisions of amenities, cleaning, and other steps to be taken after a crisis.

The questions will be adapted from Crisis Management Performance Assessment

Questionnaire in Industries validated by Lotfollahzadeh, A. et al. The researchers have

obtained permission from one of the authors of the aforementioned questionnaire.

27
 The Likert scale is used in the questionnaire, and each of the questions were

gauged in a 1 to 5 range. A 5-point Likert scale is used to allow the individual to express

how much they agree or disagree with the particular statement. The responses are

strongly agree (5), agree (4) , neutral (3), disagree (2), and strongly disagree (1).

The weighted mean of the scores will be evaluated based on the following:

Novice
1.00 - 1.79

Basic
1.80 - 2.59

Competent
2.60 - 3.39

Extended
3.40 - 4.19

Advanced
4.20 - 5.00

Table 1.1 Verbal Descriptors of Weighted Mean

To measure the reliability of the research instrument, Cronbach’s Alpha shall be

used. Cronbach’s Alpha is a statistic “commonly quoted by authors to demonstrate that

tests and scales that have been constructed or adapted for research projects are fit for

purpose” (Taber, 2018). SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) will be used

to compute it. To measure the validity of the research instrument, an expert in the field

shall evaluate the content validity of the questionnaire.

28
Data Gathering Procedure

To describe the crisis management practices of hotels in Cabanatuan City and to

determine whether there is a correlation between the profile and crisis management

practices, this study uses a descriptive correlational research design. Quantitative

research is to be employed to collect and quantify data from hotel owners in Cabanatuan

City to bring together multiple perspectives on the crisis management practices.

To quantify the respondents’ crisis management practices, an adapted survey

questionnaire is to be used to gather data. The implementation of the survey

questionnaire is to be conducted from July to August 2021. The respondents participating

in this study are from hotels in Cabanatuan City. All the survey questionnaires will be

distributed through a survey administration software (Google Forms) due to the ongoing

pandemic. Each respondent will be informed about the study, will be asked to sign the

consent form electronically, and will be asked to share information on their crisis

management practices. Researchers will also contact the respondents by mobile phone

for follow-up and to ask additional questions.

The data collection will begin with researchers asking permission from each

respondent before they electronically return the signed consent form. The research aims

and questionnaire will be briefly explained to respondents to demonstrate how they can

contribute to this study and the industry. The hotels have been operating before and

during the pandemic and will be able to provide rich data regarding the crisis management

practices from the COVID-19 pandemic.

29
Analysis of Data

To analyze and interpret the data, SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social

Sciences) is to be used as a tool to perform statistical data analysis.

To answer the first statement of the problem, frequency and percentage will be

used to describe the profile of the hotels in terms of nature of business, years in operation,

sector, and annual revenue.

To answer the second statement of the problem, weighted mean and standard

deviation will be used to describe the crisis management practices of hotel owners in

terms of preparedness and protection phase, confrontation phase and recovery phase.

To answer the third statement of the problem, Chi-square test will be used to

determine the correlation between the profile in terms of nature of business and sector to

crisis management practices. Chi-square statistic is used to test relationships between

categorical variables. On testing the relationship between the profile in terms of years in

operation and annual revenue to crisis management practices, the Pearson product-

moment correlation coefficient will be the measure. Pearson’s R is used to test

relationships between continuous data.

30
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34
 APPENDICES
APPENDIX A

Questionnaire

Section I: Profile of the Hotel

A. Nature of business: ______________

B. Years in operation: _______

C. Sector: [ ] private [ ] public

D. Annual revenue: __________

Section II: Crisis management practices

Direction: Please put a check (✔) on the box that corresponds to the descriptions that
suits your opinion using the legend below. Please do not leave any items unanswered.

Scale: 5 - strongly agree, 4 - agree, 3 - neutral, 2 - disagree, 1 - strongly disagree

A. Preparedness and protection phase

Questions: 1 2 3 4 5
1. The hotel has been established based on the layout studies, town
zooning and assessment of the outcome. It has received the
necessary permissions.

2. The layout of machineries, their distance from other rooms and

office buildings, and their installations have been determined
based on the regulations and supervision of the Technical and
Health Protection Committee?

3. The hotel has been insured against natural and artificial incidents.

4. The hotel has a comprehensive crisis management plan.

35
5. The hotel chart of the crisis management, the levels of command and
obedience, substitutes, and duties of individuals has been
formulated. The necessary measures have been carried out if
changes occur in the chart.

6. The members of the hotel's crisis committee are appointed. The

committee meetings are held on a regular basis.

7. The level of crisis (inside the organization, city and province) and the
role of the hotel in the crisis management plan for the region (city
and province) are characterized.

8. An agreement with assistant organizations such as meteorology,

firefighting, health, the Red Crescent, private sector and related
companies is in place. The emergency communication process is
defined.

9. At least one meeting has been held with an assistant and supportive
organization in the last year.

10. Any measure has been carried out in risk assessment, danger
identification and their removal.

11. There is a measure to estimate the dimensions of the crisis through

methods such as crisis simulation using crisis management software
(FAST, WISER, etc.).

12. The risk mapping in the hotel is prepared based on the risk
assessment and the staff knows it.

13. The instructions are available for the protection of the hotel's
resources (people and equipment) in emergency conditions against
the remaining risks.

14. Employees are familiar with the hotel's hazard list.

15. There is a process and procedure for reporting incidents and

hazardous situations to the crisis management team by the staff.

16. There are meetings between executives and staff on crisis

management plans and crisis dangers.

17. The tasks of the crisis management team, staff and other people,
including trainees, contractors in a specified emergency condition
were written and determined for individuals.

18. The training of employees, contractors and students (new and old) in
dealing with the risks and their roles in the theoretical, practical and
implementing maneuver was documented.

19. The training materials were prepared based on all the risks that can
be created in the company and provided to the staff. There is a
measure to assay personnel information.

36
20. The safe spaces were (safe gathering places) identified. The plans
related to the safe evacuation and safe areas were prepared. The
staff are aware of these plans.

21. There is a plan for alerting non-resident employees at the time of

emergency.

22. The staff (native and non-native) have periodic discharge training
until knowing the evacuation routes well.

23. The alert conditions and signs, under which the discharge should be
carried out, and their managers for the issuance of this discharge
and their successors have been determined.

24. There is a plan to identify missing people.

25. The units and equipment of the company have been identified and
the instructions and responsible persons for transferring equipment
to safe havens and places have been designated

26. There is training for employees on how to go after the alert, where to
go, how to seek refuge and when to leave the shelter.

27. There is emergency power to ensure that there is enough light on the
stairs during the main power failure.

28. There is a guideline for health facilities and medical care in each
shelter.

29. There is a list of resources and capacities inside the organization and
foreign organizations (manpower, vehicles, fire brigade, water
supplies, electricity, medical facilities, etc.).

30. There are resources and equipment needed, including machinery,

food, water, lighting, fuel, radio communications with additional
batteries (fixed and unloaded), and measurement equipment needed
for response operations, forecasting and recovery.

31. The storage equipment has been stored in a safe location with no
hazard such as earthquakes, fires, and so on.

32. The process of protecting data and information, records and

information technology in an emergency condition has been defined.

33. The updated list of names and contact information of personnel,

donor organizations (EMS, firefighting, fire alarms ...) is available.

34. There is a comprehensive plan of site map, buildings, fire

extinguisher locations, automatic fire extinguishing system, water
taps and power supplies, ducts and shuttle lines, inputs, natural gas
pipelines, seals building, street name, number of personnel in each
hall. A version of this information has been sent to the offices of the
fire department of the Governor's Crisis Management.

35. The fire preventive systems have been previously tested. They are

37
 ready to work.

36. There are maps related to all interruptions and connections of

devices, including switches, power lines, etc. The responsibility for
the backup device set to disconnect and shut down the devices has
been determined.

37. The hotel has implemented the necessary measures related to the
establishments and land plots to meet the standards required to
prevent short-circuiting and thunder-storms and its consequences.

38. There are firefighting personnel trained in the hotel to shut down
equipment and resources.

39. There is a plan for physical protection of the organization and staff
and the control of invading people into the organization.

40. There is a process to ensure that the crisis management team is

present at the site on time.

41. There is a plan for easy and safe transportation of rescuers and
quick access to hospitals.

42. The hotel has a plan to introduce a person as a permanent guardian

of the building to the city's management and respondent
organizations for coordination during the crisis.

43. The incident management room has sufficient space, safety, and
necessary facilities, including desk, office, digital clock, computer,
internet, fax, whiteboard, google map, factory map, area map,
projector video msds, USP.

44. There is a plan or method to validate news, rumor control, and

correct news reporting.

45. The monitoring checklist has been developed for the performance of
the emergency team and maneuver to improve the response to the
crisis through its results.

46. The hot, cool, and warm areas have been created according to
existing protocols.

47. The advice to those exposed to the material is given by chemical and
hazardous experts.

B. Confrontation phase
Questions: 1 2 3 4 5
1. The periodic visits of equipment, machineries and warning
systems, and protective reparations are carried out to ensure
their appropriate functions.

38
2. The hotel has used passive defense to protect the unit from a
pandemic and crisis management.

3. The crisis management plan has been reviewed and signed by the
chief executive officer over the years.

4. The staff, who should continue the confrontation operation after

having been informed about the start of operations issued by the
commander, is ready in a timely manner.

5. After collecting information, the commander of the crisis issues

orders for declaring the level of crisis (organization, city, province) in
accordance with the goals and objectives of the relief campaign.

6. The correct and timely information as the internal and external to the
organization (to the employees/people / authorities) is carried out
according to the level of the crisis.

7. Collecting information about the dimensions of the crisis (territory,

developmental process and possible consequences) and identifying
the hazards, sections and vulnerable groups are given to the
commander to take a decision.

8. Specific security measures (traffic control, security for human and

critical resources, prevention of sabotage, asset conservation,
discharging, and helping to move to shelter) are carried out
according to the plan.

9. The members of the crisis team act according to the training and
their duty in the confrontation time.

10. There are emergency actions (firefighting, discharging, and disaster

relief) and emergency assistance provided to victims.

11. The safety and security of personnel and delivery of the necessary
equipment, including personal protective equipment, antidote, and so
on are carried out.

12. The decontamination of the reaction team members and injuries

occur in an emergency condition.

13. There are emergency shelters protected from risks such as fire,
flood, leakage, and so on.

14. There are appropriate answers to the questions and the status of the
families whose spouses are in the company and who are injured or
killed.

15. The budget that was planned for the preparedness phase, was spent
in the confrontation and recovery phase.

16. There is a documentation of all steps taken in the time of

confrontation and recovery.

39
C. Recovery phase
Questions: 1 2 3 4 5
1. The budget that was planned for the preparedness phase, was
spent in the confrontation and recovery phase.

2. There is a documentation of all steps taken in the time of

confrontation and recovery.

3. There are measures of support and resistance, including the

establishment of transportation routes, the normalization of
transportation to the region with crisis, the provision of
amenities (water, food), the treatment of victims, the provision
of mental health services and religious services.

4. The scene of the incident was cleaned up and made after the
confrontation stage.

5. The safety principles and technical and design principles have

been observed to bring the situation back to pre-crisis status.

6. There are meetings for the crisis analysis in order to learn more
and avoid the occurrence of similar events.

40
 APPENDIX B

Letter of Consent

Dear respondent,

We are students of Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management at ABE

International College of Business and Accountancy, Burgos, Cabanatuan City. We are
conducting research entitled “Rebuilding Tourism for The Future: Crisis Management of
the Hotel Industry in Cabanatuan City.”

We believe that this research will help domestic tourism cope up with the challenges
brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with this, we are asking for your permission
to participate in our survey. The purpose of this research is to assess the crisis
management practices of hotel businesses in Cabanatuan City and to create a crisis
management plan for the safety and security of everyone.

Rest assured, the answers of our respondents will be treated with utmost secrecy,
confidentiality, and respect.

If you wish to participate, kindly affix your signature over the printed name below. Thank
you very much!

_____________________________
Signature over printed name

41
 APPENDIX C

PROOF OF PERMISSION TO ADAPT QUESTIONNAIRE

42
 APPENDIX D

LETTER TO CABANATUAN CITY LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNIT

43
 APPENDIX E

SIGNED LETTERS OF CONSENT FROM HOTEL OWNERS

44
45