Abstract:
Social support plays a critical role in the recovery of hospitality and tourism SMEs by providing encouragement, guidance and resources to help businesses overcome challenges and bounce back from setbacks. Researchers have argued on varied factors that influence the hospitality and tourism SMEs‟ recovery process but then there is a robust correlation between social support and business recovery. The study examined the role of social support in the recovery of hospitality and tourism SMEs in Cape Coast. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data from the respondents. The study sampled 142 respondents using a simple random sampling technique for the survey. In addition, 10 managers/owners of the hospitality and tourism SMEs were interviewed. The results of the study indicated that the hospitality and tourism SMEs experienced a sudden decline in revenue generation between 2020 and 2021, leading to other challenges. The study further established that social support was a key dimension in the business recovery process during the COVID-19 pandemic. The likelihood of business success and sustenance are hinged on the availability of social support. Thus, social support reduces the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitality and tourism businesses. The more robust the social support the higher the likelihood of a business achieving a good outcome. It is therefore recommended that managers/owners of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises adopt long-term, adaptable crisis management methods that take into consideration both financial and non-financial elements.
