THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC CRISIS ON CHANGES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES IN SLOVAKIA

The main topic of the paper is the impact of the global pandemic, which arose because of the spread of COVID-19 disease to accommodation and catering facilities in Slovakia. The paper consists of three parts. In the first part of the paper, we define the basic concepts and information related to the studied issue, which were obtained through literary research mainly  of foreign Internet sources. In the second part of the thesis, we focus on identifying factors influencing the operation of accommodation and catering facilities during the period of global crisis and proposing solutions to mitigate their impact. We drew attention to the current crisis, which arose because of the outbreak of the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine.  Hospitality establishments have been hardest hit by this crisis, so they have also become the subject of our investigation. In the third part of the paper, we present the results of the analysis of primary data obtained through a questionnaire survey from persons in leading positions of accommodation and catering facilities in Slovakia.  The research results were processed using mathematical-statistical methods, presented graphically and conclusions and recommendations were drawn from them

COMPARISON OF TOURISM PERFORMANCE IN CHOSEN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WITH THE ACCENT TO SLOVAK REPUBLIC IN THE PERIOD BEFORE AND AFTER ACCESSION TO EUROPEAN UNION MEMBERSHIP AT THE BEGINNING OF 21ST CENTURY

Article reviews the development of tourism in the three selected countries of the European Union in the early 21st century. It focuses to the period before and after accession of the Slovak Republic to the European Union. The study points to the area that is dedicated to tourism within the European community. The findings present the evaluation of selected indicators: number/development of accommodation facilities of transitional housing) of the national tourism in the stated period on the example of the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and Germany. To evaluate the development of tourism sphere on chosen indicators there were used and presented mathematical - statistical methods as: the arithmetic average, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, median, average growth rate, the average rate of increase, the geometric average, and correlation and regression analysis. Since the compared countries have significantly different population rate, infrastructure and tourism operators’ coverage, comparison of absolute indicators of these countries in the field of tourism was limited to basic findings of the results of elementary statistical characteristics - capacity of collective tourist accommodation establishments and their growth rate. The survey results pointed to significant differences in performance in tourism of chosen countries

Analytical study on adventure tourism destination management concerning expenditure on adventure activities

Adventure tourism represents a popular and developing type of tourism, which requires new research concepts due to its changes. Before the pandemic period, the destinations of adventure tourism were developing dynamically. The pandemic limited its activities due to restrictions related to travel and the opening of tourism businesses. Future development thus needs new management approaches that reflect new research of adventure tourist profiles. The main goal of the study is to analyse the Slovak participant in adventure tourism with regard to its expenditures associated with adventure tourism. The survey was performed using a questionnaire survey method on a sample of 135 respondents. The results were evaluated using contingency tables (relative abundance), and the established hypotheses were evaluated using Pearson's chi-square test. An important finding found within the expenditures on adventure tourism is that the type of adventure activity and the choice of destination influence its participants. Therefore, the Slovak participant in adventure tourism corresponds with the findings of foreign studies. The study is actually due to the current pandemic situation where adventurous tourism. It brings results from the new-pandemic period, which has not yet been studied in scientific research. The findings can serve as a basis for the management of adventure tourism destinations due to the change in the behaviour and preferences of its participants, even in the context of expenditure. The novelty of the study is based on new updating of the previous studies sourcing from the period of the turn of the millennium and later of the so-called period of adventure tourism expansion. The findings can be beneficial due to current changes in the tourism market when the emphasis is on higher individuality and the natural environment in the consumption of tourism products. Current management of tourist destinations should respect this important fact

Application of the huff model of shopping probability in the selected stores in Prešov (Prešov, the Slovak Republic)

The main objective of this article is the calculation of the Huff Model and the comparison of obtained data with the questionnaire survey results. Afterwards, we will try to assess the validity of this theoretical model of shopping probability for practical use as well as its overall objectivity. Calculation of the Huff Model of Probability will be calculated for nine large-scale retail stores in fifteen local regions within the area of the third largest town in the Slovak Republic - Prešov. These results will be compared to results of the questionnaire research which was conducted during the period of November 2013 until March 2014 on a sample of 1,096 respondents. The questionnaire was addressing customers' preference for various large-scale stores as well as their place of residence. Based on the calculation results and the results obtained from the questionnaire survey, cartographic outputs were created, pointing out overall consistency as well as differences in the already mentioned results

Tourism and the COVID-19 Global Pandemic – Analysis of Opinions of Czech and Slovak Tourism Students

Research background: Coronavirus has hit universities on several levels, from interrupting teaching and returning students home and changing the form of teaching. Universities have switched to online teaching. The Universities in Prague and Prešov have agreed to use this situation to ascertain students’ views on the course of teaching during a pandemic and their opinions on the further development of tourism at home and in the world. Purpose of the article: The main purpose of the research was to examine the views of tourism students on current events in tourism from a global and local perspective and to compare the views of Czech and Slovak students. Methods: Both universities conducted an online questionnaire survey among tourism students. The questionnaire had two parts: students’ opinions on online teaching during the corona crisis and opinions on the further development of tourism in their countries and in the world after the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings & Value added: The results of the survey brought interesting findings. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on students’ lives, for example, lost their work while studying, cancel trips at home and abroad, including studies at foreign universities. Despite that, most students see their future in tourism. Students expect an increase in domestic tourism this year, a decrease in outgoing and incoming. They expect this trend in the next few years as well. Opinions on the development of tourism in the world are in line with the opinion on the development of national tourism

USE OF DASHBOARDS IN PREDICTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPANY USING NEURAL NETWORKS IN HOTEL MANAGEMENT

Tourism development currently represents a very important part of national economics and its development and growth. To ensure growth, managers are looking for new effective tools to optimize decision making. This paper addresses the issue of dashboards based on neural networks and their utilization in managerial decision-making processes. Dashboard based reporting is oriented towards the tourism sector in Slovakia. The result of the research is the proposed balanced ranking and prediction model using financial and nonfinancial indicators with the application of artificial intelligence which allows to reach high level of efficiency and accuracy in evaluation of financial and nonfinancial health of companies operating in the hospitality sector. The proposed model also brings a new managerial and scientific point of view on the in-depth analysis of performance of these facilities. The main function of the proposed model is to classify health of a hotel. For this purpose, the MLP (Multi-Layer Perceptron) feedforward artificial neural network using backward propagation of errors was chosen as a training method

Time Series Modeling Analysis of the Development and Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Spa Tourism in Slovakia

Natural healing resources in the form of mineral and thermal waters and climatic conditions, together with a rich history and modern medical procedures, rank Slovakia among the important European countries in the field of spas. At the same time, spa tourism has a significant economic benefit for the country. This study examined the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on spa tourism in Slovakia. The Box-Jenkins methodology was used to model and forecast the time series for selected indicators. The analysis used monthly data on the capacity and performance of spa facilities for 2006–2019 and compared the forecast development for 2020–2021 with the reality as affected by the pandemic. Despite the high quality of the models, the methodology used did not take into account an unexpected event such as a pandemic. Therefore, the models were quite inaccurate and had little predictive value. At the same time, it is clear that the pandemic significantly affected spa tourism