Whitbread reports high demand in tourist areas

Whitbread has reported food and beverage sales were down 86.0% in Q1 FY22, reflecting the government’s lockdown restrictions that were in place for most of the period.

The hotel and restaurant operator said post 17 May, trading has been strong, with high levels of demand in tourist locations in particular.

Whitbread said demand had “improved markedly” across the rest of the estate, with the exception of central London and airport locations.

In the 30-day period from 17 May to 14 June 2021, when the restaurant estate was nearly fully reopened, food and beverage sales were down 24.9% versus the same period in FY20.

The group said its more flexible labour model which was implemented across the estate in the second half of the prior year has enabled it to quickly flex-up hours from its existing labour force, in response to the increase in demand in both hotels and restaurants.

Alison Brittain, CEO of Whitbread, said: “We expect leisure demand in coastal and other tourist locations to remain very strong throughout the summer, while the full recovery of leisure demand is dependent on the final release of lockdown, and the return of unrestricted events. Trades business demand remains resilient, albeit at prices some way below pre-Covid levels, and our expectation is that office-based business demand does not start to recover in earnest until the Autumn.”