During this past year, the COVID-19 epidemic brought uncertainty and havoc to the global economy.
The restaurant and hospitality business is one of the industries that has been affected the most by the restrictions.
According to collected data, it is also going to be the industry that takes the longest to recover.
Overall statistics
The most direct impact of COVID-19 restrictions is reflected in general job loss (around 38%, while employees that remained had their hours and salaries reduced) and total revenue loss (over 50%).
Both big and small hotels, especially those in larger cities, took the hardest hit.
From our partners:
The occupancy rates reached historic lows of 24.5% this year (everything below 35% is considered unsustainable).
At this point, for the industry to recover without a dramatic increase in occupancy or Congressional action is highly unlikely. Kitchenall New York can provide you with more detailed stats.
Reopening plans
Research has shown that over 50% of people are not willing to return to restaurants and hotels just yet and up to 17% of them are not comfortable doing so until the vaccine becomes widely available.
For restaurant owners, the whole situation is even more worrisome.
They predict that it will take up to a year after the restrictions are revoked to get fully operational again.
An even bigger concern is the possibility that after the reopening over 80% of customers will still prefer to order deliveries.
Future predictions
The survival of the industry will depend on their ability to adapt a new business approach such as increasing safety measures and relying more on technology.
The additional implementation of technology could include:
- contactless payments
- service robots
- keyless entries
- sensor-operated elevators, bathrooms, etc.
This will provide a necessary contactless experience in both restaurants and hotels.