The Management Practices of Tourism SMEs in Pandemic Times:: innovation as a quest of survival
2021
The objective of this paper is to analyze the strategies and actions implemented by small and
medium-sized companies in the tourism sector (SMEs) based on the social and economic crisis
caused by COVID-19. The study focuses mainly on direct customer service on the coastline of
the Metropolitan Area of Puerto Vallarta, including souvenir shops, accommodation, restaurants,
and art galleries, among others. Our argument is that to keep operating, companies had to
implement various changes, mainly the incorporation of digital tools in their management and
communication processes with both suppliers and their customers. The research uses quantitative
methods, both digital and traditional (face-to-face) instruments were used to data collection in
order to overcome the obstacles imposed by the social distancing, and confinement required in
the general population. The results show what were the activities implemented by the companies
that contribute to innovation, as well as particularly two types of innovation, according to the
Oslo Manual (2007) in relation to commercial and organizational innovations. We conclude that
tourism is an activity of direct contact with the consumer and experience, which limits certain services
to be digitalized, so that it must be considered the profile of tourists, the age group and
their region of origin to explain the acceptance to digitalization of some practices related to the
provision of tourist services
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