Survival strategies of hotels in IBB City-Yemen during the war

The hospitality industry is susceptible to political and economic crises, especially during the war, as they greatly impact hotels' survival. This study aims to discover the impact of the war in Yemen on the hotel sector in the city of Ibb, the strategies that hotels in Ibb have implemented to survive, and the factors that helped hotels in Ibb City to survive in such times of crisis. This study adopts a qualitative method approach. Data were obtained through in-depth face-to-face interviews with experts in the hotel industry, specifically the general managers in four-star hotels in Ibb City. In addition, secondary data such as documentary evidence and observational notes were also used. The data gathered were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The results reveal that the war led to significant effects, such as the collapse of the hotel sector in Ibb City due to the collapse of the tourism sector in Yemen and the decrease in occupancy rate and the hotels' revenue. The study also reveals that the surviving hotels implemented survival strategies such as cost leadership, marketing, differentiation, and adaptation. Furthermore, the study found that the important factors for hotel survival are strategic location, grand opening, good reputation, customer loyalty, experienced staff, quality service, ownership of hotel real estate, and pricing policy. This study also discovered the need for hospitality managers to select new markets during crises and adjust the hotel business strategy based on the new target markets. Accordingly, to ensure sustainability and survival, hospitality managers must adopt strategies compatible with the environment. Interestingly, the findings are congruent with the chaos theory, which explains the impact of crises on the tourism and hospitality industries, and resilience theory, which elaborates on the importance of resilience of tourism and hospitality firms during crises and war for survival. Finally, the results of this study yield valuable practical and theoretical insights to guide hospitality managers toward business adaptation for survival by highlighting factors and their implications for hotel performance in the long term.