Facets of Economic and Financial Crisis Impact on Strategic Planning of travel Agencies
Author:Claudia E. Tuclea, Dragos C. Vasile, Andreea F. Schiopu and Monica Marin
JEL:M10
DOI:
Keywords:strategy, strategic planning, travel agency, competitive advantage, economic
and financial crisis
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to explore the strategic behavior of travel agencies in Romania
and their strategy development process before and during the current economic crisis.
Using 88 in-depth interviews with Romanian managers of travel agencies of different sizes,
we pursued the understanding the extent to which they use strategic management, the role
of strategic management on leading travel agencies before and during the crisis, and the
changes of their strategic planning process due to the crisis. The research also aims to
identify how they perceive the impact of the crisis on the business environment and the
behavior of competitors.
The findings suggest that, at first, travel agencies followed an informal strategic planning
process, with a high emphasis on the short-term objectives given the turbulence of the
environment affected by the economic crisis. This turned into a tougher emphasis put on
financial and cutting costs measures. The crisis prolonged and the managers rediscovered
the role of strategy, trying to find new ways of creating value for the customers,
reconsidering the role of competitive advantage.
The paper offers an image of strategic management processes of travel agencies and the
changes in their strategic direction and behavior as a result of the financial and economic
crisis, approaching a well-defined theoretical and practical need.