ASSESSMENT OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF TOUR OPERATORS IN ADDIS ABABA AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The tourism industry is highly susceptible for natural and manmade catastrophes such as war, diseases, and terrorism. The purpose of this study was to assess the crisis management practices and challenges of tour operators in Addis Ababa amid COVID-19 pandemic. The study employed quantitative and qualitative research approach and descriptive research design. Pertinent data were gathered from owners, managers, supervisors and department heads of 82 actively operating tour operators using questionnaires. Owners and managers of tour operation companies were purposively selected due to their appropriateness to give the necessary data representing their organization and also interviews were made with purposively selected tourism experts from Addis Ababa culture and tourism, Ministry of tourism and tour operators’ associations. Quantitative data was processed via Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 26) and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of the study revealed that crisis management practices of tour operators in Addis Ababa during COVID-19 were found to be practiced less. Absence of tourists, lack of preparedness and economic and marketing challenges were found to be challenges for tour operators in Addis Ababa during COVID-19. Different measures were taken by tour operation companies and rated their effectiveness. The result showed that their effectiveness were low. It was recommended that tour operators should apply crisis management practices to enhance their preparedness for any unforeseen circumstances and use different marketing strategies to survive from COVID-19 crisis, use different digital platforms to better communicate with customers. Also the government has to support this sector since tourism is a big source of revenue for a country.