Russian travel technological startups in 2020–2023: The adaptation to challenges and development perspectives

Abstract

Goal: the analysis of the Russian travel technological startups’ managerial practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical situation of 2022–2023. Methodology: the empirical research was based on the case-study method. Two series of the in-depth interviews with the startups founders focusing on the reaction of the startups on the COVID-19 and geopolitical situation in 2022–2023 were carried. Findings: the results demonstrate the significant changes in the startups behavior in 2023 in comparison to the pandemic COVID-19 period. So far during the pandemic the startups made the deliberated strategic decisions on the products development paying much attention to HR practices aiming at building solid teams. After March 2022, the ad-hoc decision focusing on the markets (including geographical) identification prevail; organization managerial practices moved to the peripheral attention. Originality and contribution of the authors: the information technologies have recently dramatically affected the tourism industry. Despite the fact the Russian travel technological startups, being the notable players of the travel industry, offer a wide range of the technological solutions, there is still a lack of research on the startups’ managerial practices. The current paper is the first one that analyzes the Russian travel technological startups’ managerial practices during the dramatic transformation of the Russian tourism industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical situation in 2022–2023.