The financial crisis that released with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic joining a layer of panic to the hospitality industry. In Punjab, the restaurant industry is only beginning to feel the shocks of the health crisis and the restrictions that followed. In the post lockdown situation, the restriction on public gatherings, limited cash flow due to high overheads and little business, are all pointing in a bleak direction for the restaurant industry.
According to some cases, the owners might have no option, so they shutter the business entirely. Already striving to break even, a vital number of small food outlets and restaurants will go bust before we reach the post-outbreak period. According to the Lahore Restaurants Association, most food restaurants will have to decrease operational costs, and downsizing seems to be the first step in that direction.
The pandemic is supposed to cast a severe and enduring impact on the hospitality industry in the short term. With the elimination of customer demand during the pandemic, the industry is expected to face a period of concentrated demand release after the pandemic.
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Challenges that Hotels in Lahore Face
How to accurately capture the shift in customer demand, how to design a similar customer experience, how to turn pressure into opportunity and how to grab the chance for development? Striving to help analyze the shift in customer needs causing by the pandemic and providing insights to hoteliers.
Focus on shift in customer experience
This pandemic has included many variables that are currently fogging up the views of the hospitality industry. Due to the risk of the changes in customer needs after the epidemic, hotels need to evaluate their present service offerings to adjust the changes in customer experience. Restaurants in hotels may start offering intimate serving spoons when delivering a promoting contactless delivery for in-room-dining, shared dish, and designing menus in single servings rather than a sharing size.
Focus on the switch in customer perceptions
Inappropriate choice of raw foodstuff is the cause of this pandemic, which will, in turn, have a significant impact on customer diet structure and concepts. It is understood that after the pandemic, customers will pay more consideration to hygiene.
In reply to this shift in consumer-thinking, hotels need to make changes on time. With high hygiene measures in place, hotels can encourage their loyalty in collecting raw materials and create a “safe” image of F&B presents related to stand-alone restaurants. This assists to inspire greater acceptance from the neighborhood and generate more F&B profit from the local community like hotel guests.
Focus on the shift in consumption patterns
To support efficient control of the pandemic, most customers avoided shopping for groceries in person, relying instead on delivery services, thereby stimulating the growth of online sales and promotion. During the pandemic period, many hotels have expanded the catering services to online ordering and delivery. Hotels should make full use of their various online platforms, converting them from one-way notification communication to two-way interactive communication, using these channels to read and respond to customer needs on time efficiently.
Focus on quality asset management
The pandemic has become a great impact on the complete hospitality industry and has even led to the full end of some hotels due to lack of cash flow assistance. For such assets, some hotel owners may contemplate selling the properties, while other survivors may look to renovation for repositioning and improving competitiveness.
Hotels in Lahore owners and operators have to review the positioning of the brand to perceive the demands of the target market more accurately. Also, hotels in Lahore owners needs to refurbish or renovate high potential assets, optimize asset strategy, and improve asset competitiveness to provide changes in customer requirements. For under-performing assets, they need to be appropriately dealt with on point to preserve and enhance the core of the asset portfolio.
