Majority of consumers have returned to hospitality since July 19

However, two in five (42%) consumers say they have been out less often than they normally would do before the pandemic, with busy venues their chief concern. Among consumers who have visited hospitality premises since April, but not since ‘freedom day’, a fifth (20%) have indicated that venues would be too busy for them. These concerns are leading consumers to plan meals and drinks out more carefully, with only a third (31%) of visits in July involving no reservations.

Currently, two thirds of consumers feel confident about visiting restaurants, however, this decreases in more wet-led venues. Half of consumers (51%) say they are confident about visiting pubs, whereas only 25% are confident about visiting nightclubs.

Despite the easing of restrictions, many venues continue to operate with Covid-related safety in mind.

Some 39% of consumers said that the venues they had visited were still operating some form of social distancing measures, with 42% saying that staff were continuing to wear PPE, and that the use of masks was being encouraged when not sat at the table. 85% of consumers want venues to continue using safety precautions over the coming months, with the most important of these being staff continuing to wear PPE.

In all, only 5% of consumers have felt unsafe during their visits to hospitality.

The impact of social distancing measures and the subsequent reduction in capacity is reflected in CGA’s Drinks Recovery Tracker data which indicates that drinks sales per outlet in England in the week following ‘freedom day’ were 18% lower than the same week in 2019. Sales on the day itself (Monday 19 July) were down by 6% on the equivalent Monday in 2019, but there were encouraging signs for the market’s recovery over the weekend, with Saturday sales down just 2% against 2019.

Jonathan Jones, CGA’s managing director said: “The easing of COVID-19 restrictions has been a huge relief, but it’s clear that consumer confidence remains fragile as COVID-19 cases remain high, especially among older age groups, and there is a long way to go before we return to pre-pandemic norms. Businesses will need to make it easy for hesitant consumers to plan their visits in advance, check availability and be sure they will have sufficient space.”