Here’s How COVID-19 Has Affected the Restaurant and Hospitality Business

For the past year now, the COVID-19 pandemic brought uncertainty and disarray to our everyday lives and to the global economy.

The restaurant and hospitality industry particularly has been hit hard by the epidemic and restrictions that came with it.

Let’s observe the collected data and see what that means for the future of traveling and dining out.

General impact and statistics

This industry is one of the most affected by COVID-19 restrictions, and according to data, it is going to be one of the last ones to recover from it.

Around 38% (the national average is 10.2%) of employees in the hospitality business lost their jobs and many of those that remain had their hours and wages reduced.

The total revenue losses project to over 50% in 2020 alone, while the occupancy rates noted a historic low of 24.5%. To put this into perspective a rate below 35% is considered to be unsustainable.

Both small and big businesses have been affected. Some of them were forced to close completely, while the businesses that managed to survive are struggling to break even, keep their employees, and to pay off debts.

Larger cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Dallas have been impacted the most.

It seems that without a drastic increase in occupancy and without some kind of Congressional action, their full recovery is unlikely.

For more detailed statistics consult www.kitchenall.com.

Customers’ point of view

It seems that a lot of people (over 50% of them) are hesitant to return to restaurants and to go on overnight vacations, and will remain to be so, for the foreseeable future.

Around 25% of customers are waiting for data to improve while around 18% will be willing to travel to destinations with a lower number of coronavirus cases and a better overall situation (more efficient testing and isolation of active cases, tightened restrictions, etc).

Between 14% and 17% of them will feel comfortable doing so only once the vaccine becomes available.

Owners’ opinion

When it comes to reopening the owners are much more concerned.

A lot of them (around 65%) believe that it will take up to a year after revoking the restrictions for their establishments to become fully operational again.

Until then, 90% of restaurants will remain closed or will offer reduced services.

They also need to invest in additional safety measures as that is something that worries around 60% of customers.

However, their major concern is that even after the reopening more than 80% of customers will continue to order delivery which will make the reopenings costly and rather unnecessary.

What’s next?

Will the restaurant and hospitality business ever fully recover and go back to what we knew as normal?

At this moment it is difficult to make predictions with any kind of accuracy, but it is safe to say that new solutions need to be implemented by finding different ways to adapt to the current situation.

The main thing would be investing in increased safety precautions that up to 40% of customers are willing to pay for.

Another change could be the additional involvement of modern technology that would minimize human-to-human contact and by doing so, provide the industry a chance to survive.

This could include:

• contactless digital payments
• digital menus
• service robots
• keyless entries
• sensor-operated elevators, bathroom equipment, etc.

Today, most industries are already relying on technology, but for the hotel and restaurant business that reliance needs to be further reinforced.

By guaranteeing a contactless experience this industry will be able to encourage customers to return in increased capacity.