CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

How did hospitality customers perceive the experience of going out during the global COVID-19 pandemic? What concerns did they have about hospitality providers? The purpose of this paper was to clarify how consumers perceived the pandemic and whether or not people feared infection when dining out. The first purpose was to determine how many people went out during the pandemic, and the second aim was to determine how they perceived the performance of the hospitality industry. To measure their perceptions, we proposed several variables: psychological well-being, expected positive emotions, expected negative emotions, desire to avoid, and customer satisfaction. The main objective was to investigate the correlation between the selected variables. For the study, a questionnaire was distributed to different target groups: Adolescents, adults, and middle-aged people. It was found that the population of Bucharest felt a need to socialize and go out during the pandemic rather than a reluctance to do so. This study highlights the importance of anticipated perceptions and how they influence consumers' final perceptions.