COVID-19: How Do Companies in the Tourism Sector React? The Case of Riccione

The COVID-19 crisis is a new challenge for companies and the issue of business continuity plays a central role in the process of drafting financial statements, as the assessments of the presence of business continuity conditions are strong critical issues in light of the uncertainties of the timing as well as the methods of exit from the current health emergency. The pandemic crisis has been reflected in a deterioration of employment conditions and in a contraction of the turnover of the tourism sector more marked than the other sectors. This contribution analyzes companies that seem to be most affected by the pandemic crisis, operating in the Riccione area. The methodology followed is eminently qualitative-exploratory based on the administration of 95 questionnaires, aimed at knowing which strategies have been implemented by the hotels to adapt to the crisis. Our findings highlight how hotels adapt their facilities to environmental change within a short period of time and what they expect in terms of reduction of the operating result. The work presents elements of novelty, as the first empirical study in managing the impact of COVID-19 (after one year from the beginning of the pandemic) on businesses belonging to the Italian tourism sector.