There is no way of knowing what the hospitality industry will look like on the other side of the coronavirus crisis, and until we do, communication is key, says the Jersey Hospitality Association’s Simon Soar.
‘The coronavirus outbreak will have far reaching consequences across the world. We are going to see massive changes across every aspect of our lives. It’s the kind of global crisis that children will be studying at school.
‘It will change the way people look at things and it will change the way communities come together, in the same way the war did. What it does to the hospitality industry remains to be seen but it’s unlikely that the industry will come out looking the same.
‘For our industry right now, communication is paramount. People are not travelling, they are not going for dinner and they’re not staying in hotels, and we don’t know how long this is going to last. We must be communicating on all fronts – to the government, to the public and we must be communicating to our customers.
‘We must use all the channels we have available to us to keep our industry in people’s minds. The public needs to know we are still here, they need to know what we’re doing to get through this, and they need to know how much we want to be open for them when this is all over.
‘It’s clear that what is coming out of this situation is the absolute necessity of the government to decide what it wants from the hospitality industry on the other side of this. Do they care if its going to diminish? If not, and they think the island can take the hit, have they fully explored the wider impact it will have on Jersey’s economy?
‘If they do want to save it, are they doing enough right now to preserve it?’
