What We’ve Learned from Our Customers About Reopening and Post-Quarantine Events

Of all the industries impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, the hospitality industry has been hit especially hard. Fortunately, states have started to reopen and restaurants are moving toward recovery. Restaurants have been adapting quickly to make up for lost time, by introducing creative ways to drive revenue, reinventing their venues, and using marketing and virtual technology to connect with event clients.  Event professionals have every reason to feel optimistic as the industry comes back. We’ve surveyed 212 of our customers across the United States from March through June during our 10 Social Hour virtual roundtables to find out how their venues are dealing with various phases of reopening. Here’s what we’ve learned:

• Events are making a comeback. 76% of our attendees said they are receiving leads or requests for events, and 79% of those requests are for social events.
• Venues are being strategic with their events packages, offering incentives like flexible cancellation/booking clauses, shifting business to off-premise catering/delivery, and waiving or lowering food and beverage minimums for event clients.
• Group dining will be returning to restaurants over the summer through early fall.
• 67% of event professionals who attended our sessions said their restaurants have reopened and many of those venues have opened outdoor space and bars.

View all of the statistics from our polls in the two infographics below:

More resources for event professionals

Get advice or ask your questions about reopening during this week’s Social Hour virtual roundtable, Reopening & Rebooking: How the Hospitality Industry is Carrying On, on Thursday, June 18 at 3:30 pm. Join us by registering here. If you’ve missed our past roundtables, you can access recordings of Social Hour online. Event professionals can also find more tips for the hospitality industry on our blog; by listening to our Two Chicks, Three Seats podcast; and by joining our Facebook group, Event Manager Community, to connect with peers and discuss the impact of the coronavirus on the events industry.