Rule of six will hit hospitality hard, says poll

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The Government’s ‘rule of six’ will negatively impact an overwhelming majority of hospitality businesses, according to the latest Lumina Intelligence’s Hospitality Leaders Poll.

The new rule, which restricts social gatherings of more than six people, will affect businesses, with 21% of hospitality leaders in the poll saying it will have a major impact and 37% saying it will have a moderate impact.

Almost a third of businesses (27%) says it will have a minor impact while only 11% said it would have no impact.

A further 3%, however, believe it will be positive.

A majority of leaders say they are already seeing the new rule have a negative impact on their businesses with cancelled bookings, with 18% reporting a major impact, 31% moderate and 22% a minor impact.

Results from CGA’s Consumer Pulse survey have revealed that nearly 60% of consumers who were intending to go out had cancelled plans or would not be making new ones in the future.

A large proportion of businesses believe that increased cases of the virus could have been caused by the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, with 27% agreeing it could be linked, and 12% strongly believing in a link.

Meanwhile, 14% of businesses strongly disagree there was a link, 19% tended to disagree, and 29% were unsure.

Most operators say they have not experienced Coronavirus in their venues, with 88% reporting they have had no cases.

Confidence was flat week on week, with 67% saying they felt positive about the future for their business.

Lumina Intelligence polled 219 hospitality leaders on behalf of BigHospitality, MCA and The Morning Advertiser.