Creative hospitality will thrive post-Covid

[Re: Party’s over, Nov 8]

Business travellers cancelling trips following the government’s Plan B guidance is another blow to the hospitality industry.

After a tough 18 months, this Christmas period was set to be a highlight for London’s hotels. If that won’t be the case, the industry needs to find alternative solutions to stay afloat.

Last year, we saw businesses find innovative ways to amend their business models. Given our current situation, we need to see that again.

With hotels now quieter during the week, hospitality could tap into a new audience.

Millions of professionals will be stuck at home, juggling between sharing a workspace with family members and a revolving door of guests. Hotels could provide welcome respite by making rooms available to remote workers during the day.

This would double the utilisation rate of a space that’s typically used for just 8 hours a night.

Leisure travel bookings haven’t dropped, so hotels must think creatively about how to generate additional revenue by providing multiple offerings.

We’ve seen hotels outsource food and beverage to ghost kitchens and introduce on-demand secretarial services, but there are more ideas that can be delivered via technology without increasing headcount.

Hospitality has been hit hard once more. But if it thinks outside the box, it will prove resilient.

Richard Valtr