A comparative analysis of costs and selected financial performance indicators on a sample of hotel companies in the Republic of Croatia - the impact of the COVID-19 crisis

Turizam i ugostiteljstvo u Hrvatskoj jesu jedna od najznačajnijih grana tj. djelatnosti kada se promatra udio prihoda prema nacionalnom BDP-u. Hrvatski hoteli, kampovi i ostali oblici objekata za smještaj odgovorni su za otprilike 20-25 posto ukupnog prihoda BDPa. Uslijed gospodarske i ekonomske krize nakon pojave virusa COVID-19 dolazi do dramatičnog pada poslovnih aktivnosti te poduzeća rade sve što je u njihovoj mogućnosti da ublaže štetu. Prema obujmu poslovanja (broju smještajnih jedinica) veliki hoteli predstavljaju opasnost od propadanja u kriznim situacijama zbog puno većih troškova, i puno više imovine i obveza, dok su mali hoteli u mogućnosti na puno lakši način kontrolirati svoje izdatke, i, isto tako, neće otpustiti toliko veliki broj ljudi ukoliko naiđe na prepreke te samim time ostavljaju manje štete na lokalno gospodarstvo. U sklopu ovoga rada analizirano je poslovanje jedanaest poduzeća iste ili slične kategorije podijeljenih u tri skupine prema veličini. Za prikaz i analizu poslovanja korišteni su fiksni i varijabilni troškovi, pokazatelji financijskog položaja i pokazatelji financijskog uspjeha, te skupni pokazatelj poslovne izvrsnosti BEX indeks. Na temelju dobivenih rezultata zaključeno je kako su mali i srednji hoteli pretrpjeli manju štetu od velikih hotela i hotelskih grupacija kao cjeline kod pojave krize, što je vidljivo kroz analizu prije navedenih pokazatelja i troškova. Neki od razloga za uspješnije rezultate mogu biti kraći zapovjedni lanac što omogućuje bolju kontrolu i nadzor poslovanja, manja financijska izloženost, državne subvencije, promjena percepcije gostiju i slično.Tourism and the hospitality industry represent one of the most important national branches in terms of revenue when compared with the country's Gross Domestic Product. Croatian hotels, camps and other sorts of accommodation along the Adriatic coast account for approximately 20-25 percent of the entire GDP. As soon as the economic and commerce crisis happened - following the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, there is a significant fall in business activity in general and businesses did everything in their power to minimize damage. When compared judging by their size, larger hotels (hotels with a greater number of accommodation units) face a greater threat during times of crisis due to greater cost fixtures, but also due to exposure because of more assets and financial liabilities, while smaller hotels are ablet to control their expenses much easily, and, also, are less likely to turn to massive employee lay-off’s as a result, which would ultimately have more positive influences on the local economy. For the purposes of this paper, fixed and variable costs were presented, and individual financial ratios were analyzed, as well as the BEX index of business excellence for eleven businesses of the same or similar category – sorted in three different groups of hotel size judging by the number of accommodation units. The results conclude that small-medium hotels suffered less damage to their business when compared to big hotels and corporations when the crisis occurred, which the data from the analyzed financial ratios clearly show. Some of the possible reasons for them suffering less damage may include a shorter chain of command which allows for a more efficient and productive way of control, less financial liability, government aid, even a shift in overall guest perception