The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled plans for the nation to exit lockdown in a “one-way road to freedom”, with hotels, pubs and restaurants permitted to open indoors from May 17.
Our perspective, featured in the Boutique Hotel News:
Aaron Belton, head of global hospitality at DocMX, commented: “What this announcement gives us is the benefit of time to plan and prepare. Hotels cannot be expected to reopen business as usual and it’s imperative that there is a strategic roadmap to reopening. How well hotels prepare now will future-proof them for long-term survival.
“The industry has spent too long in limbo and each lockdown has set the sector back further. We’ve now had 12 months and several lockdowns to learn from, and hotels have 12 weeks to prepare as best they can for a careful and gradual return.
“This means preparing for a reality of low occupancy, as low as 20% – and what that means for resourcing and cost efficiency. It means evaluating business efficiency and profitability. It means remaining competitive against other hotels who’ve taken the steps to modernise and streamline their processes during lockdown.”
Read the full article here.
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