As the hospitality industry begins to re-open after the UK’s third national lockdown, there’s a great sense of positivity among businesses. The third lockdown came into force in January, causing the hospitality industry to close its doors once again. In the midst of Covid-19 mutations and the vaccine rollout, the easing of the lockdown measures has only just started to filter down to the hospitality industry.
Despite the fact that only outdoor eating areas are currently allowed to reopen and only self-contained holiday accommodation can take guests, a poll of 1400 firms found that hotels and restaurants are the most confident sector, with regards to returning to normal.
There has been a 30% increase in hiring intentions across the economy and confidence has also been boosted by the vaccine rollout.
While Britain’s economy shrank by 9.9% in 2020, the UK is hitting its target in delivering the Covid-19 vaccine. Britain hit a record of 600,000 vaccines in one day on 16th April, the majority of which were second doses. Daily deaths are down by 29% from the previous week and over 32m people have now received their first dose. As a result of these factors, people are ready to leave the house to shop, eat out and take a short break.
The next milestone, as far as we know, in the easing of lockdown restrictions is 17th May, when remaining holiday accommodation will be allowed to reopen. With the vaccine program on-track and a clear roadmap for the staged re-opening of businesses, the hospitality industry can open their doors once again, confident in the knowledge that normality is beginning to return.