The Impact of COVID-19 on Hospitality and Leisure
Hospitality is a vast global industry with over 700,000 hotels around the World. The sector contributes $3.41 trillion to the global economy and the hotel industry alone generates $570 billion per annum. Hospitality invariably features a customer occupying a space previously occupied by another unknown and unrelated individual. In the context of the pandemic, that previous individual in principle could have been COVID-19 positive. This dynamic has brought the hospitality industry to its knees during this unprecedented crisis.
The impact of COVID-19 is vast and still unpredictable. Both revenue and supply chains have been affected adversely and the closure of leisure centres, theatres, theme parks and cinemas are all too common. The entire disruptive effect of the travel ecosystem has stalled worldwide tourism.
Many hospitality businesses have been forced to suspend business temporarily and some will face permanent closure with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. As the hospitality industry slowly recovers the COVID-19 crisis continues to exert pressure and impacts on the way hospitality and leisure businesses operate severely. Hotels, restaurants, clubs and conference centres are expected to make substantial changes to their operations due to COVID-19 in order to ensure the health and safety of employees and customers and encourage customers to use their services. Livelihoods depend on it.
