*4.4. Extent to Which Innovation and Development Processes (ID) Are Conditioned by the COVID-19 Crisis*

H3 posed whether innovation and development in tourism SMEs were determining factors, although conditioned by the COVID-19 crisis. Factor loading and regression weight confirm this hypothesis. Both values are statistically significant, with the highest value for investment in product and service development. Further, also relevant was the number of years the firm had had an ID department. Third and fourth, tourism business owners considered investment in marketing and in process improvement as determining factors for enduring the effects of the crisis. The regression weights of these variables were high, confirming their strong influence on ID processes after the start of the pandemic. The results for recovery in 2021 indicate, however, the importance of innovating in services and marketing to achieve more efficient recovery.

#### *4.5. Business Situation (BS) and Its Relationship to ID*

Based on the business situation of tourism SMEs, H4 promotes ID and ID contributes to improving the business situation. Items for this hypothesis obtained statistically low factor loadings and regression weights, leading us to accept the null hypothesis and reject H4. The survey data, thus, show no significant relationship of business situation to ID processes, at least during the pandemic period.

### *4.6. How ID Influences Organizational Strategic Management*

H5 proposed that ID practices support tourism SMEs' organizational management. Contrasting the hypotheses shows statistically significant factor loadings and regression weights, leading us to accept H5. The factors that support this construct indicate that ID contributes to formulation and monitoring of sales, cost, and expenditure budgets. ID, in turn, promotes achievement of financial goals and, thus, supports improvements in productive capacity in tourism SMEs.

#### **5. Results Discussion**

This study analyzed the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the tourism sector in Colombia to explain the significance of business situation as these firms faced the crisis. The study also analyzed the implications of the pandemic for organizational strategic management and innovation and development processes. The results obtained through CFA show that the method used to analyze the data was appropriate, as it evaluated all the items and their relationships as a whole, enabling achievement of the proposed research goal. The results identify a strong impact on the economy of tourism firms, especially those with a smaller economic structure and less-developed business situations. In accordance with [10,89], smaller firms—those with fewer workers and a weaker customer base and economic and financial infrastructure—suffered more intense effects from the pandemic.

The statistical results support the theory. They indicate that both the business situation of tourism SMEs in Colombia and this situation's influence on the level of economic impact by the COVID-19 crisis required greater public assistance to firms through financing, subsidies, and job preservation, among other issues. This finding reinforces the work in [12,27]. Such aid must include accessible requirements, such as those proposed by [44,45,90], and recognize that firms have still not recovered fully from the effects of the crisis.

Like [29,30], our results show the main effect on tourism firms to occur in sales figures, which decreased, on average, 50% in 2020 compared to 2019. As a result, salaries decreased

up to 10% in some cases. The official figures also indicate that 25% of tourism SMEs closed [21]. In the tourism subsectors, economic impact was calculated relative to sales revenues (see Figure 3).

**Figure 3.** Average percentage revenue 2020/2019. Note: the figure is derived from the averages sales percentages for SMEs in each subsector in 2020 with respect to 2019. The above figure identifies the tourism subsector that experienced the largest decrease in sales during the first year of the pandemic.

Figure 3 shows that the firms most affected were travel agencies, followed by the lodging sector (a finding that coincides with [26]), and firms that sell food and beverages. Some of these results concur with [38]. The firms least affected were, thus, those whose main market is public administration and other firms, as the main customers of travel agencies and the hospitality sector are families and individuals. Hotels also showed a significant drop in sales in 2020, consistent with [18], but contradicting [85].

Analysis of the pandemic's effect on organizations' strategic management confirmed the veracity of H2; a decrease in tourism SMEs' economic capacity led to a decrease in payroll. At the same time, the companies used their productive capacity or operating leverage less, increasing the weight of fixed costs on operating results. All these conditions led to significant decreases in business infrastructure, in line with [69].

The statistical results obtained also reveal the importance of developing budgets and proposing goals and strategies. The results indicate that tourism SMEs that conducted such management experienced less negative impacts on their sales and hired personnel, as also found in [69].

ID showed clear decreases in investment, especially during suspension of economic tourism activity. These results agree with [91]. Creativity and resilience were fundamental to strategy, however, as travel resumed and borders opened, initiating progress toward recovery. These measurements concur with [15,92].

Based on the factor analysis, the results for the business situation, as measured prior to the pandemic, and for ID processes, analyzed through H4, do not appear to be significant. This finding affirms that changes in business situation during the pandemic could have led to decreases in tourism firms' ID, as stated by [16]. This finding contrasts with changes experienced during social distancing by other businesses grounded in digital resources for marketing and product and service innovation, as [93] proposes.

Finally, we analyzed the relationship between ID and strategic management through H5. The results are compatible with most current theories. For example, they align with the contribution of [94], which supports the hypothesis that innovation practices in business management and adaptability to changes contributed to firms' ability to endure the effects of the crisis, as well as to economic and financial recovery, in line with [95].

#### **6. Conclusions**

In pursing our goal to determine the economic–organizational impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the tourism subsectors in Colombia, this study demonstrates that the main impact on tourism firms occurred in sales figures, with an average fall of 50% in 2020 compared to 2019. Similarly, suspension of trips and mandatory distancing led to inactivity in around 60% of tourism firms, generating a decrease in payroll of up to 10% in some cases. To this serious employment situation, we must add the closing of 25% of tourism firms, reported by official statistics. These negative effects, reflected in the national economy, are still being felt.

One measure adopted to contain the effects of the pandemic was increased remote work. This measure was useful during lockdown to reduce the impact on employment, but it was not sufficient to sustain tourism firms economically, as the reduction in revenue required them to decrease their operating costs and expenditure. Public support contributed partially to mitigating the negative effects on SMEs' sustainability, but it was not enough.

The loosening of social distancing measures and possibility of travel initiated the reactivation process in the tourism sector. However, most firms had to make significant investments to reach their customers through ICT and to fulfill the public-health requirements.

Sales for 2021 show that recovery is still underway; the number of workers in the tourism sector has not returned to 100% of pre-COVID-19 employment. In firms' internal management, the economic and financial situation gradually affected decisions about investment and management, requiring managers to prioritize essential expenses. The pandemic, thus, had serious implications for organizational strategic management and ID processes at the beginning of lockdown. This study showed that management strategies in areas related to finance and innovation facilitated tourism's gradual recovery.

Contrasting the hypotheses as a whole showed a weaker relationship between tourism SMEs' business situation when facing the pandemic crisis and investment in ID. This finding shows decreases in investment during the most critical months but also suggests that firms opting for strategic use of technology and innovation in the market and services achieved greater advances in economic recovery.

Innovation and technology, thus, support strategic management of both finance and customers. This effect occurred through formulation and monitoring of budgets for sales and costs, measures that promote achievement of financial goals and productive capacity. This activity also made it easier for tourism SMEs to reach existing and potential customers.

The study findings recommend that tourism entrepreneurs continue to strengthen management towards recovery based on strategies that integrate the economic and financial area, customers, and sales with innovation and efficient marketing, while also providing attractive, efficient, and sustainable services. The findings also suggest projecting goals and formulating strategies from all perspectives on the tourism business, based on the strengths and needs for change that the pandemic revealed. Such strategies will achieve economic and employment recovery, while also contributing to environmental and social sustainability.

Among our study's limitations is the lack of information on firms that suspended activity or ceased economic activity definitively. Another limitation is recognizable bias in some responses, which may be due primarily to the fact that the respondents were financial managers and did not cover all areas of the firm. As future lines of research, we propose more in-depth analysis of strategies for recovery in the tourism sector and replication of the model in other emerging countries.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M.; methodology, L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M.; software, L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M.; validation, L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M.; formal analysis, L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M.; investigation, L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M.; visualization, L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M.; supervision, L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M.; project administration, L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M.; funding acquisition, L.N.T.P., E.U.G. and E.I.C.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Colombia; grant by call number 860, scholarships for doctoral studies abroad 2019.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
