When the doors open again in XX weeks (insert number depending on your current optimism level), the market will be a completely different place than it was at the beginning of 2020. If you haven’t opted to stay open you need to assume that your business may still have to rely on a different model when you do. Some of your competitors won’t reopen. The ones who do will be fighting to up their game and become more affordable. Customers will be changed people. They will have new priorities, lighter pockets and be digitally dependent. You will have to learn how to fulfil their greatest desires all over again. Here are my predictions in a free downloadable pdf. guide for what the future of hospitality looks like and what the clientele will be craving when the lockdown is lifted. PREDICTIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF HOSPITALITY 1. Social distancing will last for a long time 2. Help make up for the lost time 3. Communication is the answer 4. Be the hub of your community 5. Health and hygiene rule 6. Prime locations will change 7. No place for technophobes 8. Continue the kindness to the environment 9. Serve up some soul

1. A GUIDE TO HOW THE
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY WILL
MAKE A COMEBACK FROM
CORONAVIRUS
by Sophie Cross

2. When the doors open again in XX weeks (insert number depending on your current optimism
level), the market will be a completely different place than it was at the beginning of 2020.
If you haven’t opted to stay open you need to assume that your business may still have to rely on
a different model when you do. Some of your competitors won’t reopen. The ones who do will be
fighting to up their game and become more affordable. Customers will be changed people. They
will have new priorities, lighter pockets and be digitally dependent. You will have to learn how to
fulfil their greatest desires all over again.
Here are my predictions for what the future of hospitality looks like and what the clientele will be
craving when the lockdown is lifted.
thoughtfully.co.uk

3. Social distancing will last for a long time
Help make up for the lost time
Communication is the answer
Be the hub of your community
Health and hygiene rule
Prime locations will change
No place for technophobes
Continue the kindness to the environment
Serve up some soul
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
PREDICTIONS
FOR THE FUTURE
OF HOSPITALITY
thoughtfully.co.uk

4. SOCIAL
DISTANCING
WILL LAST
FOR A LONG
TIME
1. Contrary to our dreams that this summer every pub in
Britain will resemble the Croydon Boxpark when England
reached the World Cup semis, some sort of social
distancing measures are likely to be in place until we
have a vaccine (latest predictions for this are some time
in 2021).
For a long time, the nation will still be uber-sensitive to
the idea of being in close proximity to others.
thoughtfully.co.uk

5. DO THIS: Shout about your private dining options.
People feel safer being outdoors so if you have
alfresco space, spruce it up and make a big deal out
of it.
Nail your delivery and takeaway options and
processes. Get creative and look to the Americans for
inspiration. Think fancy meal kits, pre-packed picnics,
growlers and delicious Chinese food in little boxes.
- What do you do really well that will travel from kitchen
to couch?
- What dishes are already popular in your area?
- What are they crying out for?
Remove some tables and chairs to
create more space.
Room service will really come into its
own. Review your offering, rewrite
menus and resource it properly.
Don’t make us queue three deep at the
bar. Offer table service or an app for
ordering.
thoughtfully.co.uk

6. 2. HELP MAKE UP
FOR THE LOST
TIME
While we’ve adapted excellently to remote working and
online ordering, there are some things that were just
never meant to happen over Zoom.
Weddings have been postponed, big birthdays have
passed without parties, grandparents haven’t met their
grandchildren and saddest of all, we have lost loved
ones and been unable to come together to honour and
celebrate their lives and mourn their deaths.
We’ll look to the hospitality industry to help us make up
for the lost time and create new memories.
thoughtfully.co.uk

7. DO THIS: You should have already thought of everything we
want to know about. Food and drink options, package
prices, minimum spend, times available, can I play my
own music? We want a degree of flexibility but we
need information, parameters and to know you’ve put
some thought into it and tell us what’s worked well
before.
Create options for fun and memorable experiences
that we can do together with friends and family.
Make sure all your staff are well versed about your
offerings and the booking process.
Shout about the spaces you have
available and have some great
photos.
Make it easy for us to enquire about
events and give super speedy
responses.
Make sure the first person we speak
to is friendly, sensitive to our needs
and fills me with confidence.
thoughtfully.co.uk

8. 3.COMMUNICATION
IS THE ANSWER
Leaving the house and spending money is going to be
way more of a big deal.
We need to know for sure, are you open or aren’t you?
We need reasons to visit/eat/drink/stay/spend more
than ever, to coax us out of our caves and shake us out
of our ‘staying in Stockholm Syndrome’.
What social channel can we definitely rely on to find out
all your latest news?
thoughtfully.co.uk

9. DO THIS: Claim your Google business listing and keep the info
and opening times bang up to date.
Close any social media channels and email addresses
that aren’t checked at least daily.
Pick one social channel to grow and nurture.
Make sure your website is doing as great a job as
your shop window.
Create a marketing plan and events calendar.
thoughtfully.co.uk

10. Be human. Show your personality. Talk to your customers like you’d text a friend.
Would you text…?
Why not join me for a glass of wine tonight? #wine #winewednesday #merlot #tonight
No, you’d write…
Decided I’m going to open that Malbec ce soir. Fancy helping me polish it off? I’ll even make us a
seriously stinky cheese board to go with it.
thoughtfully.co.uk

11. As soon as you’re open make sure your local forums, directories, Facebook groups, other
businesses and the key people in your community know about it.
If you’re not currently open, don’t wait to make connections, it’s the perfect time to grow your
network and your database. Read other success stories and get inspired. You are on the cusp of
doing something really cool. Yes, you!
- Host a pub quiz
- Host a (stay inside) street party
- Create a live stream cooking channel
- Deliver boxes of pure joy
Your success on the other side and avoidance of getting involved in a race to the bottom will
depend on your ability to get close to your customer and respond quickly to what they want.
thoughtfully.co.uk

12. DO THIS: Listen more than you talk.
Ask people how you can help and what they want.
Ditch the window dressed feedback forms and dig
deep for ways you can improve.
Do your research and keep on top of the latest news.
Think strategically and make changes based on this.
thoughtfully.co.uk

13. 4. BE THE HUB OF
YOUR COMMUNITY
It’s not just about communicating with your customers,
support your staff and the wider community too. Create
a culture of making people happy.
We are all about community involvement right now and
taking care of the most vulnerable. We are quite literally
going out of our way to be nice to each other. You need
to be part of it.
thoughtfully.co.uk

14. DO THIS: Choose the best staff, train and invest in them.
Work together with other businesses for the greater
good and learn from each other.
Choose a way to become a pillar of your community.
Be active on relevant forums and groups.
Organise and host events and shout ‘what’s on’ on
locally.
Having a great presence online is only possible if you
do great things in real life.
thoughtfully.co.uk

15. 5. HEALTH AND
HYGIENE RULE
Gen Z’s were already leading the way with wellness and are now the biggest spenders in the
economy but everyone will be more health-conscious than ever. We want to continue with the
fitness streak we made in lockdown or lose the extra pounds we put on. And we want nutritious
food that gives us great immune systems.
A high standard of hygiene is non-negotiable. Gone are the days where we felt too embarrassed to
ask for a clean fork or a non-lipstick stained glass. We don’t even like touching our own faces now.
Do you remember when you saw the barman scratch his nose and then pick up the celery for your
Bloody Mary? Or the lady that handled your money then picked up your ice cream cone? That just
can’t happen anymore. Ever.
thoughtfully.co.uk

16. DO THIS:
Hands need to be washed (often) and hair tied back
(always) but gloves, masks and hairnets are overkill
and can make customers feel more uneasy by
drawing attention to the issue.
Never run out of soap in the toilets. Or for that matter
loo roll, that’s a flashback we don’t need.
Alter your menus throughout the week. People will be
after more healthy options Monday to Wednesdays.
Introduce more treats Thursdays to Sundays.
Start a running club, put on yoga sessions, host post-
parkrun coffee mornings. Don’t force it but if there’s a
natural fit with your location and what you stand for,
go after it.
thoughtfully.co.uk
Go cashless.
Don’t have food uncovered on the
counter.
Make sure everything is spotless.
Re-train your staff on hygiene,
cleaning and the importance of
everyone mucking in all the time. (If
you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got
time to clean).

17. 6. PRIME
LOCATIONS WILL
CHANGE
We pretty much know that work will no longer be so
centred around the office so they’ll be fewer take
out coffees, grab-and-go lunches and after-work
wines in the city.
This will only add to the ever-increasing appetite for
home delivery but restaurants will need to compete
with dark kitchens who are purely focused on
delivering superb kitchen-to-couch dishes at a
competitive cost.
thoughtfully.co.uk

18. DO THIS: If you’re in a residential area, consider delivering
energy-boosting brunches, lunches and healthy
dinners for the workaholics.
Offer space and special rates for co-working in the
daytime with unlimited coffee, water and wifi.
Home workers need quality coffee — deliver their
weekly bean count.
People love to show off their ‘work from home wins’
so make your offering visually shareable.
thoughtfully.co.uk

19. 7. NO PLACE FOR
TECHNOPHOBES
The hospitality industry has been known to lag in the technological stakes. And while there’s been a
rapid acceleration in digitalisation around the world, most of the sector has been closed for
business.
If you are shut, it’s a good time to learn about what tools you could and should put in place to make
business easier and more efficient. A lot of technology is free or cheap and easy to use if you just
decide you’re definitely going to commit to using it.People now know exactly what can be replaced
by technology and what can’t. Face-to-face service is not scalable but it is special and will increase
spend-per-head if it’s done properly. So decide if you want to offer it (well done) or rely on tech.
thoughtfully.co.uk

20. DO THIS:
Contactless payments
Online delivery
Ordering app
Ecommerce website
Social media channels
Data capture and email marketing
Software to analyse financials and marketing
metrics
What technology should you consider?
thoughtfully.co.uk

21. 8. CONTINUE THE
KINDNESS TO THE
ENVIRONMENT
The big winner from COVID-19 has been the
environment.
We’ve learnt the hard way that living in a society
that produces and consumes as much as it can is
not good for our planet. And we’ve learnt that we
can live while producing and consuming a lot less.
The last thing we want to do is reverse all of the
progress that’s been made.
thoughtfully.co.uk

22. thoughtfully.co.uk
DO THIS:
Recycle and use recyclable packaging.
Have incentives for people to bring their
own cups, forks and tubs.
Reduce energy and water use.Food and
supplier miles — be vocal about going
local.
Show and prove you care:
Find innovative ways to recycle food
waste and coffee grounds.
Look for plastic-free and ecological
alternatives and cut out non-essential
items completely or have them on
request like (straws, stirrers, face
wipes, etc.).
Organise litter picks, beach clean-ups,
tree planting.Go organic, shade-grown
and Fair Trade.
Have vegan options.

23. 9. SERVE UP SOME
SOUL
We’ve been broken and had to build ourselves
back up again.
We’ve had the time to reclaim our roots, rekindle
our passions and reconnect with long lost loves.
We’re cooking, we’re learning new skills and
discovering things about ourselves.
We want you to come on this journey with us. We
want you to care, bring us comfort and serve up
some soul.
thoughtfully.co.uk

24. Sophie Cross is a freelance hospitality marketer,
consultant and business writer.
Typing: soph@thoughtfully.co.uk
Tapping: www.thoughtfully.co.uk
Tweeting: @fullythoughtout
Talking: Skype @fullythoughout