COVID-19: impacts and implications for hospitality, tourism and community. The case of Mendoza

This study draws on the insights of dynamic capabilities and stakeholder theory to examine the existing and potential ramifications of the COVID-19 crisis for businesses involved in gastronomic and wine tourism experiences and their surrounding community. Moreover, this study is primarily concerned with how businesses strive for survival, and how business-community relations ensue during this unprecedented situation. Data gathered from ten businesses providing wine and food experiences in Mendoza, Argentina, one of the Great Wine Capitals, first reveal eight different dimensions associated with ways in which firms confront the ongoing crisis. The operational pillar, innovation-based, and aspects within firms' control emerged as the most predominant. In addition, three dimensions concerning business-community interactions, namely, the direct and indirect supporter, and the mediator-negotiator-collaborator, were identified. A resulting theoretical framework is proposed. Given the unprecedented nature of the current crisis, the study has important practical and theoretical implications for tourism-hospitality firms.