Photo credit: Kevin James
By Sydney Pearce and Cate Willis
Kevin James, a professor in the Department of History and Head of the Tourism History Working Group, is studying the history of inns and hotels in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and the Isle of Man in the 19th century. He transcribes digital records of hotel books to explore the social and cultural history of tourism and hospitality.
Referring to The Humanities Interdisciplinary Collaboration Lab run by the College of Arts and U of G’s McLaughlin Library, he said, The THINC lab has helped us to explore hotel visitors’ books in new ways.
“We have been able to develop a more systematic approach to analyzing content, using a case study of one book, which enables us to deepen our understanding of the contents and structures of visitors’ books generally, and to explore how inscribers collectively participated in the production of distinctive texts.”
How the hospitality industry can weather future pandemics
James is also helping the hospitality industry to prepare for another pandemic or other major crises.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, James collaborated with Dr. Mark Holmes in the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, and history graduate student Jose Gabriel Alonzo on a report called “The Past, Present and Future of the Hospitality Industry in Ontario.” The team examined industry impacts from the 2002-03 SARS outbreak and the current pandemic.
The report outlines recommendations to prepare business operators for another pandemic or local or global crisis. The team recommends that industry members learn about best practices and functions, reassess operations and revenue streams, look for ways to collaborate at all levels and develop contingency plans as a core part of their operations.
“They need to understand each line of their product and loss reports, making sure that they understand how they can reduce labour overhead and costs in a very quick and efficient manner in order to mitigate any losses,” Holmes said.
During summer 2020, the researchers conducted an extensive study of press reports from the SARS crisis of 2002-03 and interviewed five affected hoteliers in the Greater Toronto Area.
They concluded that the localized nature of SARS and quick recovery meant that industry players did not put any long-term plans in place to manage future events.
“Perhaps there were early warning signs,” James said. “The canary in the coal mine was the Toronto hotels crisis in 2002-03.”
With COVID-19, he said, there are no exceptions. Every hotel worldwide has experienced the pandemic’s impacts.
Studies show that with global warming such events may happen more frequently, so the industry needs to learn how to weather such crises, Holmes said.