The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on workers and managers of accommodation facilities in Maseru urban

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak remains a significant issue for the world’s economies and societies. Since its inception, its dire consequences were seen in various sectors, particularly in the tourism accommodation facilities. As such, this study’s findings are premised on the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, and the strategies that were deployed both during and post that era. The data collected from the accommodation facilities in Maseru urban was analysed using the qualitative thematic approach. The findings therefore revealed that COVID-19 widened the societal strata gap, which became visible in employability, thus leading to the aggravated stress levels. The study concluded that this health crisis paved way to hospitality industry’s economic meltdown, which manifested in drop of sales and low room occupancy. The study further established that socially, retrenchments caused the workers and managers a lot of stress, thus increasing the workloads for those that continued serving in those businesses. The study further recommends that financial and taxation policies should be amended to resuscitate the economy of the hospitality sector.