The pandemic has drastically hit the hospitality industry and as a result individuals, consumers, clients and businesses have all had to make significant adjustments! To remain afloat and survive the changing circumstances and economy, we need to come up with sustainable long-term solutions. Let’s look at how different sectors in hospitality are affected and what solutions are available.
Travel and Toursim
The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimated that international travel will be down by up to 30% in 2020 and will continue to fall as we move into 2021 with stricter international travel bans coming into effect.
Both business and personal travel has reduced. With the help of virtual platforms we are able to conduct business through virtual meetings and events. Personal users engage in more video calling and using multi-sharing online tools to socialize and get everyday tasks completed.
Airline industry workers are being laid off in customer service and supply chain. This also has a huge impact on related industries such as fuels, food, retail, technology, manufacturing and more. More safety rules are being put in place which affect the time, effort, cost and efficiency of operations and workers.
Live Events and Meetings
Conferences, tradeshows, meetings, and other business events are operating at limited capacity with social distancing rules in place. The remaining are moved to virtual events to continue business for the private sector, public sector, government and international relations. The result is a loss of revenue, a skillset gap and a need for virtual events to establish new ways of conducting business.
Weddings, concerts, festivals and other large events are cancelled. Personal limits on group gatherings are much smaller with most being discouraged completely. This affects event venues, food vendors, transportation, entertainment professionals, small business, corporations, technology providers, product suppliers and multiple other independent service providers. Such events can’t all be taken online and the result is a decline in industry revenue and an overall hit to the economy, personal income levels and personal lives.
Transportation and Supply Chain
There is less transportation for business lost and also less driving to work for employees. This has resulted in an overall decline in revenue for the transportation industry. With the closing of country borders, there isn’t an added opportunity to switch from air deliveries to by land or water. The supply chain is also subject to enhanced safety procedures which reduces efficiency and speed and can result in higher costs for goods and services. Logistics workers are also suffering with layoffs and having to learn a new system and new skills.
The personal reduction in driving has been beneficial for the environment as pollution has reduced. Some even say the ozone hole has vanished, but who can confirm those facts! Personal services have also benefitted such as Uber, SkiptheDishes, and other consumer deliveries.
Hospitality Jobs
So many individuals in restaurants, hotels, venues, theatres, theme parks, movie theaters and other entertainment venues are being laid off as capacity and demands reduce drastically. Travel restrictions, pandemic safety regulations and businesses going bankrupt, all affect the jobs available in the industry. Household incomes reduce as a result, which in turn, affects the economy in a circular affect. Hospitality workers will need multiple skillsets to increase efficiency to help survive in a competitive industry.
Solutions to Stay Sustainable
- Venues can offer space for hospital beds and hospital staff, helping during the pandemic and increasing utilization.
- Operations must be very lean and efficient, with a focus on multi-skill workers who can keep up with the new regulations.
- New purchases should be delayed and instead of investing in equipment, companies should aim to reuse, recycle and repurpose resources.
- We should focus on building safety standards, promotion and awareness through social media, creating procedures, managing inventory and other non-daily tasks that get put on the back burner during regular operations.
- Emphasis should be put on coming together as a community to support the hospitality industry.
