Hospitality Beyond Covid
By: Fatmir, redwigwam
Tackling Uncertainty in the Accommodation Sector
How the UK is preparing for an unpredictable 2022 season
Hospitality has been, perhaps, the most challenged industry in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. The sector has been dealing with lockdowns and travel restrictions, furlough followed by staff shortages, soaring costs, and supply chain issues. Bookings and cancellations have ebbed and flowed as travel is on, then off again. Add to this the effects of Brexit, with hospitality workers returning to their home countries — meaning increased competition for remaining talent, especially from industries with more secure and regular working hours — and times have been really tough.
Weathering the storm of Omicron
As the UK weathers the storm of Omicron, what does this mean for the future, and what opportunities exist for the hospitality sector at the start of 2022? Households accrued over £190bn in additional household savings during the pandemic and there was much talk of a holiday spending boom to follow. Since then, however, at the same time as travel restrictions have begun to ease, inflation and pressures on household spending from spiralling fuel bills will for many mean a cautious approach to planning this year’s getaway.
So both demand for labour in the hospitality sector, and the supply of staff to meet this need, will likely remain unpredictable. Travel has seen a continuing trend of late booking, with rooms filling only as people make a final decision on where and when they want to go. Such flexibility is good for travellers, but less welcome for accommodation providers waiting to know how many guests to expect and needing to resource their properties with appropriately sized teams of reception, cleaning and kitchen staff.
Technology breeding opportunity
However, technology is breeding opportunities for certain sectors, such as hospitality, to better navigate worker shortages and rising wage costs as travel begins again. It will also provide business owners with the tools to succeed the next time critical shortages occur.
Technology is at the heart of the our award-winning staffing platform (the UK’s largest). redwigwam has helped over 5,000 businesses, both small and large, with finding and managing high quality temp staff to fill their roles. Our scalable, AI-powered recruitment platform works in real-time to provide a temporary workforce of additional staff when and where businesses need them. We operate across a wide range of industries, although hospitality is a particular focus.
A new partnership
redwigwam are therefore particularly pleased to welcome online booking management experts eviivo to their long list of hospitality partners. They work with over 20,000 hotels, B&Bs, pubs with rooms and vacation rentals in the UK and beyond, helping property sell their rooms online. By providing an all-in-one platform to manage availability, prices, bookings, payments and cleaning schedules, eviivo is invaluable to independent accommodation providers needing to manage their business efficiently.
By working together, redwigwam and eviivo are doing their part to help during these troubled times of unpredictability and worker shortages. With redwigwam providing flexible staffing solutions for hospitality businesses and eviivo automating many of the time-consuming tasks involved with running a hospitality business, at least some of the many pressures on hard working hosts and hoteliers can be eased, which means more time freed up for what they do best – looking after guests.
Need help with recruiting needs? Contact redwigwam to find out about the latest in flexible staffing for when and where you need it.
To help your accommodation business adapt, survive and thrive, visit www.eviivo.com
