Anything is better than nothing: Improvising resilience at the Diamond Resort

Introductory note: The world is rich in paradox, tension and contradiction (Jarzabkowski, Lê, & Van de Ven, 2013). For this reason, the capacity to handle paradox is being presented as an important management competence. With this series, the European Forum on Paradox and Plurality aims to contribute to the development of paradox management competences by producing teaching materials on management tension and paradox. The case: The hospitality industry in Italy accounts for approximately 60% of the national tourism industry (Mordor Intelligence, 2019). In 2019, the contribution of tourism to the Italian GDP was estimated to be around 237 billion euros (13.3% of the overall GDP) and it was expected to reach 14.3% in 10 years (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2020). In terms of hotels and available rooms, Italy is currently the first country in Europe and the fourth in the world with around 33 thousand hotels and 1 million rooms, behind only by the United States, China, and Japan (Ribaudo and Franzese, 2019). Alongside this, new independent hotels, hotel chains, branded hotels have appeared throughout the country and the number of employees working for tourism and hospitality has increased dramatically: from 950 thousand employees in 2014 to 1.17 million in 2018 (Federazione delle Associazioni Italiane Alberghi e Turismo, 2020). This sector has been hit by COVID-19 as one could have never foreseen. The impact has been even more severe given that Italian hospitality relies strongly on international demand, which offsets domestic demand. Due to the pandemic, Italy lost about 30 million tourists only between March and May 2020. Recent estimates from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2020) calculate that a return to pre-pandemic levels might not happen before 2023. Piero Giraudi had been in the hotel business for 30 years and was particularly known in the sector for his competence, leadership style, and commitment to his managerial role. In his CV he had accumulated noteworthy job experiences in big luxury resorts located both in Italy and abroad. Although during his career he had had to face world crises such as that caused by the Gulf War and the spread of the SARS epidemic (2002-2004), the COVID-19 emergency seemed to raise completely new critical issues, questioning Piero Giraudi’s skills and his ability to outline timely solutions.