Beyond the emergency: Medium-term organizational effects of pandemic responses in Italian hospitality

This study explores the paradoxes of resilience leadership in the hospitality industry post-COVID-19. While resilience is often framed as a positive capability, emerging research highlights its potential downsides when taken to the extreme. Building on Lombardi et al. (2021), we investigate how hospitality leaders’ crisis responses shaped resilience practices in the post-pandemic era. Drawing on qualitative data from hospitality professionals in Italy, our findings reveal the hidden costs of resilience, challenging its status as an unquestioned virtue. By framing resilience as a dynamic and paradoxical process, this study contributes to organizational research on the ‘dark side’ of resilience, offering critical insights into the long-term implications of adaptive leadership in high-stress environments.