Lessons from the Pandemic and the Road Forward for Hospitality

At this time last year, restaurants and bars across the country went from being houses of entertainment and joy to being forced to close as part of wide-spread mandated shutdowns to stop the spread of an uncontrollable and unknown pandemic. Shock, uncertainty, and confusion took hold of our lives and businesses.

At the time, this industry was trying to discern what the right ‘next’ move was to mitigate the long-term effects of a shuttered hospitality industry. More than a year later, with recovery just beginning, we can look back at what this past year has meant for the industry and what the future holds for restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and movie theaters.

The Biggest ChallengesThe biggest challenge the hospitality industry faced was the need to pivot their business model without having any preparation or guidance on how to do so. In an instance, businesses had to turn from on-premise to off-premise sales including implementing and focusing on deliveries and pick-up…