Influence of Covid-19 pandemic on business in hospitality industry in Croatia

Ugostiteljstvo pripada uslužnim djelatnostima i važan je dio svakog gospodarstva, naročito hrvatskog. Naime, ugostiteljska djelatnost bavi se pripremom i prodajom hrane i pića te se često usko povezuje s turizmom. Važnost ove gospodarske djelatnosti ogleda se u stvaranju novih radnih mjesta, ali je i značajan izvor prihoda. S obzirom na navedeno, ovaj sektor je podložan rizičnim promjenama i ekonomskim šokovima, a jedan od njih je svakako pandemija Covid-19 koja je uzrokovala velike promjene u cjelokupnom gospodarstvu Hrvatske, a posebice u ugostiteljskoj djelatnosti. Kroz ovaj diplomski rad pobliže će se prikazati utjecaj pandemije na ugostiteljstvo, odnosno koje promjene su se dogodile poduzetnicima u ugostiteljskoj djelatnosti tijekom pandemije. Prvo će se objasniti pojam i karakteristike ugostiteljske djelatnosti te poduzetništvo kao poslovna mogućnost u ugostiteljstvu. Zatim slijedi opis drugog dijela teme, a to je pandemija Covid-19 te koje je posljedice uzrokovala. Nadalje, obradit će se najvažniji dio teme, a to je analiza posljedica i promjena na ugostiteljsku djelatnost. To je ujedno i cilj ovog rada te se želi približiti kakav je utjecaj pandemija donijela poduzetnicima u ugostiteljstvu te s kojim su se izazovima susreli. Svrha rada je metodama analize i usporedbe prikazati i utvrditi utjecaj pandemije Covid-19 na ugostiteljsku djelatnost u Republici Hrvatskoj. Kako bi se analiza što bolje provela, koristit će se usporedba odabranih pokazatelja te varijable poput udjela zaposlenih u ugostiteljstvu, pokazatelja nezaposlenih prije i tijekom pandemije te prihodi ugostiteljskih objekata. Na samom kraju, dobit će se zaključak koliko je zapravo ugostiteljska djelatnost izložena ekonomskim šokovima i krizama, koje su najbolje prilagodbe koje su se mogle napraviti te koji su pozitivni i negativni utjecaji, kao i ekonomske i društvene posljedice koje su nastale dolaskom pandemije.The hospitality industry belongs to the service activities and is an important part of any economy, especially the Croatian one. Indeed, the hospitality industry deals with the preparation and sale of food and beverages and is often closely related to tourism. The importance of this economic activity is reflected in the creation of new jobs, but it is also an important source of income. Considering this, this sector is exposed to risky changes and economic shocks, and one of them is certainly the Covid 19 pandemic, which caused major changes in the whole Croatian economy and especially in the hospitality industry. The purpose of this thesis is to show in more detail the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality industry, i.e. what changes occurred for hospitality entrepreneurs during the pandemic. First, the concept and characteristics of the hospitality industry and entrepreneurship as a business opportunity in the hospitality industry will be explained. This is followed by a description of the second part of the topic, namely the Covid 19 pandemic and the consequences it caused. Furthermore, the most important part of the topic is covered, which is the analysis of the consequences and changes for the hospitality industry. This is also the objective of this thesis, which aims to shed more light on what impact the pandemic had on entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry and what challenges they faced. The aim of this work is to show and determine the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the hospitality industry in the Republic of Croatia using methods of analysis and comparison. In order to perform the analysis as well as possible, a comparison of selected indicators and variables such as the percentage of employees in the hospitality industry, indicators of unemployment before and during the pandemic, and the income of hospitality businesses is used. At the very end, a conclusion is drawn on the extent to which the hospitality industry is actually exposed to economic shocks and crises, the best adjustments that can be made, and the positive and negative impacts and economic and social consequences of the pandemic