Guest article
www.parkworld-online.com
A post-pandemic LBE landscape
The coronavirus crisis is accelerating trends already underway and changing how we live, work and play. Once the crisis is over, what will the long-term impact be? Randy White, CEO and co-founder of the White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, shares his observations and predictions for post-pandemic location-based entertainment.
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onsumers of out-of-home entertainment, cultural and leisure experiences after lockdown will be different than the consumers we knew just a
few months ago. A heightened concern for safety from disease is just one of the many ways their behaviours and expectations will have changed. The effects of epidemics extend long term after they
are over. Diseases permanently alter society by creating new and better practices and habits, and Covid-19 will permanently change behaviours when it comes to staying disease-free, as well as expectations for businesses and safety. When we get to the other side of the pandemic
and can leave our homes, the out-of-home leisure competitive landscape is sure to have a new normal. Many location-based entertainment venues will not reopen due to insolvency. There will be less competition. The percentage of LBE and FEC venues that will go permanently dark will depend on how long the
pandemic quarantine and social distancing lasts. However, the behaviour of post-pandemic consumers will be forever changed. The pandemic has accelerated the trend of the
increasing use of screen-based and at-home digital entertainment, including the adoption of many digital options by people who were non-users before the crisis. Some of this shift is sure to stick. Many consumers will be deeper in debt and cash poor, limiting their purchases of out-of-home entertainment. Unemployment will be higher than it was pre-pandemic. So, while the out-of- home entertainment supply will have decreased, so will have consumer demand. However, although consumers will be craving a return
to out-of-home experiences of all types, as well as face- to-face socialisation, the fear of going out into public that the coronavirus has instilled in people will not vanish overnight. It will be a slow ramp up to a return to out- of-home public life. In Wuhan, China, even after the stay-at-home orders were lifted, some people developed agoraphobia and still refuse to leave their homes. All these factors make it highly likely that the location-
based entertainment businesses that make it to the post- pandemic world will still experience a highly competitive landscape where supply will exceed consumer demand for at least some time. The ones left standing may fi nd that initially at least, competition for consumers’ attendance and spending might in fact be fi ercer than pre-pandemic.
Looking ahead and practical actions A recent coronavirus webinar hosted by Dataessential
presented current consumer research on what people expect they will continue to do when social distancing is ended (see fi g. 1 left) The public are sure to consider any business more
threatening to their health than they did pre-corona. They are going to have heightened awareness of the environment and expectations for their safety from viruses and germs and the way the business is operated.
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