Business resilience: A study of Auckland hospitality sector

Businesses in the hospitality sector play an important role in the New Zealand economy. As most businesses in this sector are of small size and subject to external disruptions, being resilient is crucial for their coping and survival during a time of crisis. This research aims to measure the resilience of hospitality businesses in the largest city Auckland. A triangulation approach was adopted, including a questionnaire survey and face-to-face interviews. It was found that the key resilience attributes for the studied businesses include: leadership and management, core competence of staff, market sensitivity, situational awareness and having preparedness plans. Resilience was viewed by these businesses as being able to stay viable and withstand the expected fluctuations such as low-demand seasons and unexpected financial issues. However, amongst the surveyed businesses, there is a lack of planning for unexpected events such as large scale disasters, an issue which needs to be brought forward along with the formulation of disaster risk reduction plans.