The perception of destination and industry resilience of owner-managers of small- and medium-sized hospitality family firms in times of crises

The tourism industry is continuously faced by economic, climatic, financial and other types of crises (Liu und Pratt 2017; Ritchie 2004; Ritchie et al. 2014; Zehrer 2013). The concept of resilience enables owner-managers in tourism destinations to react and act against changes, challenges, impacts and effects which might arise though crises (Annarelli & Nonino 2016; Kalisch et al. 2015; McManus et al. 2008). One core element to reach stability not only on organization, but on destination level, is collaboration (Beritelli 2011; Hristov & Zehrer 2015; Zehrer et al. 2014) as well as quality networking amongst tourism actors and stakeholders (Hristov & Zehrer 2019; Pechlaner et al. 2014; Zehrer et al. 2014). This paper analyzes organizational as well as destination resilience from the point of view of owner-managers of small- and medium-sized family firms in the hospitality industry and deals with the importance of collaboration and networking within the destination to overcome crises. The paper reports a qualitative study, presenting exploratory findings of fifteen semi-structured in-depth interviews with owner-managers in hospitality from 2021. The authors reveal factors for organizational as well as destination resilience providing recommendations for owner-managers to reach resilient entrepreneurial conditions in difficult times