Restaurants and COVID-19: A Focus on Sustainability and Recovery Pathways

Abstract

The hospitality industry, specifically the restaurant sector, is one of the leading global sources of employment, and it generates considerable revenue. However, the industry is susceptible to disasters that destroy infrastructure and affect human movement, notably the outbreak of pandemics and epidemics. This study investigated the early impacts of COVID-19 on the global hospitality’s restaurant sector. The study made of data from the OpenTable database and the National Restaurant Association of America. It emerged from the study that most restaurants were shut down for sit-in meals as governments increasingly promulgated regulations for social distancing and lockdowns. This adversely affected fine dining and family restaurants, pubs and taverns. The fast-food outlets were equally affected with businesses mostly operating at less than 20% capacity. This led to substantial financial losses and direct and indirect jobs losses thus bringing many restaurants into unprecedented liquidity challenges. At the peak of the pandemic impact in the USA, millions of restaurant employees lost their jobs. The study recommends a raft of tailor-made measures to assist the restaurant businesses and employees during and after the crisis so that both emerge out of it stronger and resilient to withstand such possible future events. Among such measures are tax rebates for employees and business; improved health and hygiene measures; the provision of grants, loans and debt relief interventions; decreased interests on loans; and other innovative measures to ensure business viability post the pandemic.