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The future of hospitality | Introduction
Introduction
The global hospitality sector has been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. Restaurants, hotels, 
casinos, and sporting venues have stood empty for months as governments and public 
health authorities acted to contain the spread of the coronavirus. These organizations 
moved swiftly to mitigate the impact on their business, furloughing staff, reducing costs, 
pivoting online, and more, until given the green light to reopen. Now that time has come. Authorities across Canada and other parts of the world have 
begun to reopen their economies, and the hospitality sector is gearing up to open their 
doors once again. Yet the world in which the industry now finds itself has changed. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting global lockdown have dramatically affected 
consumer behaviour. Some behavioural changes in motion before the outbreak have 
accelerated; others have slowed or stopped. New habits and expectations have arisen.