Russian Tourism Enterprises’ Marketing Innovations to Meet the COVID-19 Challenges

A conceptual framework for identifying sustainable business practices of small and medium enterprises

Purpose

The purpose of the current paper is to identify the factors responsible for achieving business sustainability. This paper further attempts to develop a conceptual framework that can help SMEs to achieve viable business growth through improved sustainable performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study follows a methodical examination of literature published on SMEs during COVID-19. Specifically, the combination of keywords has primarily centred on SMEs, Business Practices, COVID-19 and Pandemic. The 155 research papers identified for the analysis have been classified as per geographical spread, type of papers, central theme, and theoretical foundations, which finally is followed by rigourous thematic analysis.

Findings

This research contributes to the SME literature by providing methodological, conceptual and practical rigour. The framework proposed by the research covers all the relevant areas which can be useful in preparing sustainable business trajectory for SMEs. It outlines the required directives for designing sustainable business practices for SMEs and includes macro and micro determinants. It also opens up future research avenues in different areas identified in the research. Future research can be performed on comparing business practices of SMEs across the emerging and developed economies.

Practical implications

In this study, we propose a framework that enables the design of sustainable business practices and thereby supports SMEs to combat any uncertain events or shocks. SMEs that can work on adopting sustainable business practices may sculpt novel avenues for growth and competitive advantage for their business.

Originality/value

The study is distinctive in nature as it is based on the examination of literature published during a phenomenological event (COVID-19) which depicts the sudden and unaccounted disruptions faced by SMEs and thereby strategies formulated around the significant glitches.

Tourism Sustainability and COVID-19 Pandemic: Is There a Positive Side?

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the tourism industry like never before, resulting in massive losses of revenue and jobs around the world. Accordingly, the pandemic exacerbated the already existing sustainability challenges of the tourism industry. However, there is also a positive side of the pandemic which is often overlooked by international scholarship. Thus, the present study aims to review the extant literature in the area of COVID-19 and the tourism industry’s sustainability and resilience in future crises. Through a synthesis of secondary data, it was possible to bring attention to the negative as well as the positive effects of COVID-19 on the global tourism industry. This article contributed to a better understanding of the positive side of the pandemic in terms of rethinking, resetting, and redefining the industry in a more sustainable way. The study lays out a conceptual framework for tourism managers and destination planners to identify the pandemic as an opportunity and adopt sustainable solutions to deal with the post-pandemic challenges, thereby developing more sustainable and resilient tourism businesses and destinations.

Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Travel Decision-Making of Poles and Nepalis during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aimed to present the socio-economic conditions, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their effects on travel decision-making. Data were collected in January and February 2021 using an online questionnaire survey. We compared the data on personal attributes, socio-economic factors, and organizational-related factors of 957 Polish and 181 Nepalese respondents. We found that people would like to travel, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, in both countries; however, tourism in developed countries is expected to revive earlier than in developing countries. Tourists chose natural and rustic areas for travel destinations and family members and friends as travel companions in both countries. Similarly, the use of travel agencies decreased significantly as compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic in both countries. Levels of income and travel motivation were observed to be different between the two countries. Respondents from both countries similarly believed that the overall cost of travel had increased during the pandemic. Therefore, policymakers and authorities of tourism destinations should jointly introduce discounted or subsidized packages targeting family members.