Following hospitality reopening there are mixed reports on levels of business, most has been cheerful in tone, partly no doubt due to the relief of being able to trade once again.
As doors reopen and welcome people back to enjoy some hospitality, they will not be seeing levels of footfall akin to pre Covid-19 levels.
This is due in part to most hospitality providers operating at reduced customer capacity through adjusting their business to meet new safety guidelines.
It is in the most part due to consumer confidence, people are wary of going out and socialising in close quarters to others.
YouGov monitors public opinion and recent public opinion surveys show that significant segments of the great British public are reluctant to return to hospitality any time soon. You may not like that statement, but it is a fact, and needs to be recognised if anything is to be done about it.
Hospitality Consumer Confidence Poll – Pub visit intentions July 2020
The difficulty often in dealing with any situation is recognising the facts, and the simple fact of the matter is that many hospitality providers will have to work even harder to get customers back in the numbers required to sustain their businesses. The full results of the poll can be seen here and gives readers both macro and micro views.
Consumer confidence is low overall and as such it will have an impact on most aspects of life in the UK, not just hospitality. Hospitality providers all over the UK have worked as hard as any other industry not just in preparing to reopen safely but in supporting vital NHS front line and other essential care services.
But, whichever way you look at data from organisations like YouGov and others, consumers are still saying they need to be sure they are safe to venture out again.
Much work is being done by hospitality providers to provide customers with information. One example from contract caterer Bartlett Mitchell helps workplace restaurants plan to reopen. The portal, which is hosted on the company’s website here, offers users advice, toolkits, videos, expert guides, and a risk assessment, as well as a broad range of articles offering insight into the challenges facing businesses in the coming months.
Many of the challenges facing workplace catering have been rigorously researched and shared by consultants including Tracey Fairclough – (Caterers ready workplace foodservice) and Chris Stern – (Workplace Catering, kindness gives way to cost saving). With input and information from all the leading UK contract caterers available to all, looking at both challenges and solutions.
There are many other examples from all sectors of hospitality, and all go some way to instilling just a little bit more confidence in consumers, that very much need it.
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All Covid-19 News can be seen here.
The Covid-19 crisis in hospitality is also being featured in our Facebook and twitter social media
Hospitality Consumer Confidence Poll – 15 July 2020 – Hospitality Consumer Confidence Poll