HOTELS & HOSPITALITY
HOSPITALITY: EMERGING FROM THE LOCKDOWN
Customers will understandably feel nervous at the prospect of returning to restaurants, pubs and hotels when the current lockdown ends. So, what actions can these venues take to reassure guests about the safety of their premises, asks Essity’s Jeremy Bennett.
The hospitality industry has had a turbulent year, to put it mildly. The first lockdown in March 2020 led to the closure of all hotels, pubs and restaurants. And when the situation eased off in the summer it was these hospitality venues that were the last to reopen.
In August, the government urged us to ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ in a bid to kick-start the economy and overcome people’s safety fears. This spelled good news for the hospitality sector but the scheme was short-lived, since cases of COVID-19 had started rising again by the autumn.
Whether this resurgence was due to people mixing in hospitality venues or to students returning to schools and universities – or simply because of the cooler weather – was unclear. But whatever the cause, pubs and restaurants were once again at the top of the list of closures when the next round of restrictions was implemented.
50 | TOMORROW’S FM
Hospitality venues have now remained shut for most of the winter in a Groundhog Day scenario mirroring that of spring 2020. But when they reopen a second time they will be in a far better position than they were in 2020.
Restaurants and pubs already have a blueprint for reopening. After last year’s lockdown many of them came up with ingenious ways to maximise hygiene and safety while also ensuring a warm welcome for their guests.
Some venues introduced self-contained pods or cabins in which friends and family groups could congregate away from the other drinkers or diners. Others employed extra staff to clean and sanitise tables at regular intervals, ensuring high levels of hygiene while providing a reassuring background presence.
Many venues created extra space inside their premises by thinning out tables and introducing one-way systems to
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