The year 2019 saw the emergence of the covid-19 pandemic that has led to low customer demand, reduced revenue, job losses and business closures in the hotel industry. Studies indicate that the hospitality industry is not committed to crisis management and hotels are reactive to crises. This paper consequently facilitates proactive planning by exploring strategies that hotels can adopt to overcome the damages caused by covid-19. The recommended strategies include cost reduction, revenue management, insurance, internal marketing, product development and market re-strategizing. The paper concludes that the covid-19 crisis has created challenges and opportunities for the hotel industry.