CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN TRAVEL AGENCIES IN BRAZIL
Crisis management; Innovation management; Travel Agencies
The scenario of the Brazilian economy, along with the difficulties inherent to each sector of the activity, requires a greater preparation and knowledge of the organizations to reposition themselves in the market. For this, it is important that the travel agent is able to perceive the scenario in which he is, to, through this knowledge, taking action in the face of the difficulties that have risen and thus be able to reposition himself in the market. Organizations, in general, are vulnerable to various types of crisis, both external and internal. This applies to travel agencies also. This segment has been going through a series of changes that, if not well managed, could have irreversible consequences. Thus, this paper intends to analyze crisis management in Brazilian travel agencies. The study presents a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory approach, using as a research instrument the semi-structured interview applied to the ABAV’S Presidents. The results shows that the administrative practices adopted by travel agents in dealing with crisis occur in an intuitive way. Actions that are a part of a crisis management process such as prevention, planning, definition of communication strategies, partnerships established with stakeholders, and employees, evaluation, learning, amongst others, are modest and isolated, not configuring in a management process of crisis. In short, the practice of crisis management is not a reality in the travel agency market and the isolated actions adopted do not give them the guarantee of repositioning and overcoming the current crisis.