Assessment of the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the HoReCa Industry in the Opinion of Customers and Employees

The purpose of the article/hypothesis: The COVID-19 pandemic and imposed restrictions negatively affected the economy and social life. Their effects were particularly hard for the HoReCa industry, i.e. the hotel and catering industry. The purpose of the article is an analysis of the activities of the hotel and catering industry in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. The article uses questionnaire surveys on a sample of owners, employees and consumers of the hotel and catering industry in Poland in the years 2020–2021. A total of 164 respondents took part in the study. Three independent surveys were conducted. In the part concerning consumers, 144 respondents took part in the survey, including 111 women and 33 men. The majority of the respondents were people aged 16–24 - 69 people (47,9%), 52 people were in the range of 25–40 years (36,1%), 16 people (11,1%) were from the age group of 41–55, and the remaining 7 people were aged over 55 (4,9%). Most of the respondents were people with secondary education, 74 people (51,4%). Higher education was declared by 51 people (35,4%), vocational education by 9 people (6,3%) and primary education by 10 people (6,9%). 20 respondents - business entities - responded to the study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the HoReCa industry from the perspective of a manager. They were mostly people running a restaurant (55%), a hotel (40%) and a restaurant with a predominant catering activity (20%). The respondents represented facilities in various voivodships, however, the largest number of people managed facilities in the Śląskie (35%) and Małopolskie (25%) voivodships. Radical restrictions resulted in significant scaling down of hotel and restaurant activity. As a result of the decline in consumption in tourist services, the value of sales revenues and the profitability of the HoReCa industry decreased. In the group of employees, the most burdensome effects of the pandemic included reduction in employment, compulsory holidays and the lack of comfort at work. However, a pandemic with many negative economic and social consequences may also have positive long-term effects. Paradoxically, unfavorable circumstances forced entrepreneurs to look for alternative solutions to maintain financial liquidity and to survive in the industry. The subject of the article is an analysis of the activities of the hotel and catering industry in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. Its purpose is to assess the impact of the pandemic on employees and consumers of the HoReCa industry. In accordance with the goals defined in this paper, the following hypotheses were formulated: The imposed restrictions and above all, closing of the premises, contributed to a significant decrease in consumption in the HoReCa industry and prevented the development of many enterprises, and the effects of the stagnation will be felt for a long time both by employees and consumers. In many companies in the HoReCa industry, the level of sales revenues decreased, led to a loss of profitability. The negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were felt by all stakeholder groups in the HoReCa industry, including: a. employers - loss of income;b. employees - loss of job and inconvenience of work due to the obligation to maintain specific hygiene conditions;c. customers - closing the premises, obligation to keep social distance. In connection with these theses, the first part of the article discusses the social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, the authors used original reports, including those of the WHO. The next section presents the opinion of employees and owners of hotels and catering establishments on the impact of the pandemic on working conditions and income. The last part presents the clients' feelings about the HoReCa sector as regards the level and availability of services. For this purpose questionnaire surveys were used on a sample of owners, employees and clients of the hotel and catering industry in Poland in the years 2020–2021. The undertaken research problem is very important due to a large scale of restrictions that affected the HoReCa industry during the pandemic and resulted in related financial losses. Methodology: Analysis of the environment of the HoReCa sector along with its foreseeable evolution has been carried out using intelligence techniques such as the identification and analysis of government public sources and reports about behavior of consumers and market trends, published by consulting companies and public research institutes. The use of quality secondary information sources instead of the primary ones does not imply a decrease in the scientific validity of a study when the principle of strategic intelligence of never accepting a single information authority is respected. The method of competitive intelligence consists of the collection, transmission, analysis, and dissemination of relevant information publicly available and legally obtained, to produce actionable knowledge for the improvement of the decision making process. The assessment of the financial situation of the HoReCa industry was presented on the basis of eight selected companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, including three largest hotel chains in Poland. Additionally, this method has been supplemented with a questionnaire survey applied to HoReCa sector users and experts, conducted during the pandemic in Poland in 2020 and 2021. The survey was quasi-representative, i.e. the sample meets the requirements of the representative method in some respects. The study was conducted using the direct interview method. Respondents were asked single choice and multiple choice questions. The survey was conducted in three areas: HoReCa service clients, industry employees and hotel and restaurant owners. Three independent surveys were conducted, in which 164 respondent participated. Results of the research: The observations and opinions of respondents contained in the surveys were used to formulate conclusions about the future and the necessary changes in the provision of HoReCa services. A. The analysis of financial statements of selected HoReCa companies made it possible to state that the restrictions imposed in the pandemic resulted in lower sales revenues and lower profitability, especially in the smallest hotels.B. The survey conducted in the group of hotel owners shows that the decrease in profitability in the HoReCa industry was mainly due to the closure of hotels and the ban on the operation of stationary catering establishments. The owners expressed an opinion that the state aid was insufficient to cover the losses related to the pandemic. C. Surveys in the group of employees showed that the pandemic resulted in a reduction in employment and a deterioration of work comfort in HoReCa facilities. . D. The surveyed guests confirmed that during the pandemic, they mostly used catering and take-away services. They most willingly spent their holidays in summer houses, which enabled them to maintain social distancing.