The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marketing mix concepts used by hotel facilities. Theoretical and analytical considerations

Abstract

The aim of the article is to identify changes in marketing instruments used by hotels as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, the authors review selected marketing mix concepts found in the literature, list restrictions that the hotel industry in Poland was directly and indirectly affected by during different periods of the pandemic, present changes in marketing tools (in particular 7P, 7C and 4V) used by different hotels in response to Covid restrictions in Poland and propose marketing tools that hotel facilities should introduce in order to prepare for future pandemics. Empirical data were collected by observation in the course of stays at eight Polish hotel facilities during the state of epidemic in Poland. It can be concluded that the pandemic definitely influenced the choice of marketing tools used by the surveyed hotels, regardless of the adopted marketing mix model. The state of epidemic in Poland and the resulting restrictions on the operation of hotels is an opportunity for hoteliers to reflect on how to deal with similar situations in the future.

Keywords

• marketing mix
• hospitality industry
• COVID-19