O Impacto na cadeia produtiva do turismo de Juiz de Fora (MG): análise da dinâmica demográfica organizacional e dos fatores contingenciais do segmento hoteleiro e de suas estratégias de sobrevivência no contexto pandêmico (2020- 2022) na percepção de seus gestores

Abstract

The pandemic brought implications for all societies and economic sectors, especially for the tourism sector. It is known that demographic, organizational, and contingency factors influence the development of all sectors of the economy. This research, therefore, arises from the following question: how did the contingency factors derived from the context produced by the SARSCOV-19 pandemic impact the organizational demographic selection of the hotel sector in Juiz de Fora, and what were the eventual organizational responses, through actions, practices, and managerial adaptation strategies of these companies? To this end, we turned to the theories of Contingency Theory and Organizational Ecology to map the demographic profile of the hotel segment in Juiz de Fora, identifying the demographic, organizational, and contingency factors in the hotel sector of JF and to what extent they relate to the actions, practices, and managerial adaptation and selection strategies of companies in the face of the contingency factors produced by this "new environment" derived from the SARSCOV-19 pandemic. We opted for a mixed research methodology, encompassing qualitative and quantitative aspects. The quantitative part refers to secondary research data, while the qualitative part refers to primary data. From the population of existing enterprises, a total of 49 establishments in the hotel sector in Juiz de Fora, the final sample consisted of 18 organizations studied, through interviews with their main managers (executives), which is a limitation of the research. Data was collected through interviews and snowball technique for respondent selection. Subsequently, the data was organized using spreadsheets and analyzed using content analysis techniques, which allowed for data cross-referencing and source triangulation. The results indicate that hotels were greatly impacted by the pandemic, and due to business closures and contextual restrictions, the hotel segment was forced to adapt during the pandemic and postpandemic, including: a) the need to better understand the profile of the new customer, b) adoption of different survival strategies, c) cost cutting and staff reductions, and service price reductions, d) government assistance, and e) adoption of ICTs and social media promotion. It was also noted that they operate independently and compete with each other, which partly hinders the development of the sector as communication has some noise. In conclusion, the pandemic impacted the sector, leading it to establish a new standard of operation, possibly more precarious in labor relations.