Digital distribution of hospitality services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Received December 27, 2021;
    Accepted February 9, 2022;
    Published February 18, 2022
  • Author(s)
  • DOI
    http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/tt.3(1).2022.05
  • Article Info
    Volume 3 2020-2021, Issue #1, pp. 34-44
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

The rapid implementation of digital technologies in all spheres of society resulted from the evolution of consumer needs and IT breakthroughs, the acceleration of which was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns restricted physical contacts in customer service, highlighting the urgent need to digitize the business. The difficulties in predicting socio-economic conditions of the pandemic have led to new opportunities and mechanisms for the distribution of services and the formation of economic stress resilience of economic entities. The study aims to reveal the essence of the digital distribution of hospitality services in the conditions of uncertainty caused by COVID-19. The study of services digital distribution gives awareness of the possibilities of their implementation in the activities of hospitality entities, which were considered in the context of business security and development drivers during COVID-19. To achieve the study’s goal, a comprehensive approach to the essence of digital technologies, including those specific to hospitality entities, was used. The results of the analysis allowed stating the economic feasibility of direct sales channels. In addition, prerequisites for the collaboration of hospitality entities with digital channels were determined, recommendatory markers of optimal relations with distributors using digital innovations in business were formed. Further, business strategy development took into account the peculiarities of mixing the niches of competition of business entities in digital format and traditional competition.

Acknowledgment
The paper shows the author’s results within the frameworks of the study, performed in 2021−2023 at Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics at the request of Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine “Digital transformation of trade, economic and tourist systems in Ukraine” (state registration number 0121U112231) and “Forecasting the impact of the tourism system on the country’s economy” (state registration number 0122U001559).

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    • Figure 1. Key digital technologies in the hospitality industry
    • Figure 2. Types of online distribution channels for hospitality services
    • Figure 3. Dynamics of operational activity indicators of brand distributors
    • Figure 4. Fulfillment of digital technologies in the distribution system of hospitality services
    • Table 1. The comparison of BRAND.com and OTA capabilities in hospitality services distribution
    • Table 2. Ranking positions of hospitality distribution platforms
    • Conceptualization
      Liudmyla Bovsh, Margaryta Boiko
    • Methodology
      Liudmyla Bovsh
    • Resources
      Liudmyla Bovsh
    • Software
      Liudmyla Bovsh, Myroslava Bosovska, Margaryta Boiko
    • Visualization
      Liudmyla Bovsh
    • Writing – review & editing
      Liudmyla Bovsh, Alla Okhrimenko
    • Data curation
      Alla Rasulova, Myroslava Bosovska
    • Investigation
      Alla Rasulova, Myroslava Bosovska
    • Project administration
      Alla Rasulova, Myroslava Bosovska, Alla Okhrimenko
    • Supervision
      Alla Rasulova, Alla Okhrimenko
    • Validation
      Alla Rasulova
    • Writing – original draft
      Myroslava Bosovska, Margaryta Boiko
    • Formal Analysis
      Margaryta Boiko, Alla Okhrimenko
    • Funding acquisition
      Alla Okhrimenko