For other food and beverage service establishments, an obvious shift toward increasing the availability, comfort and weather protection of outdoor dining will be an important means of maintaining capacity during peak periods. As indoor capacity affects total revenue volume, means of lowering labor costs will need to be developed to reflect fewer customers. This will require more than simply hiring proportionally fewer servers. App or device ordering at tables, counter ordering with food brought to the table or even the long-dormant automat format are all likely to expand as answers to controlling labor costs. Automated payment or counter payment fit nicely with such models. We are already seeing a renewed interest in the drive-in/car-hop model. Unfortunately, the buffet will be as problematic outside of casinos as in them. Takeout and delivery are likely to remain important alternatives even in more rural areas where they are less common and certainly in urban and suburban areas. One additional option that may receive more attention is the combination retail and foodservice into a single facility. Previously more novelty than sub segment, facilities like Braum’s in Oklahoma will have greater flexibility to survive under dine-in restrictions and retail closures due to their combination of grocery sales, drive-thru takeout and dine-in options. While uncommon in this country, higher end version of such operations catering to steak and seafood clientele exist in Europe and Asia and could be developed here as well. Other leisure businesses and tourist attractions vary in the constraints imposed depending upon the amount of inherent close contact required by the activity, the ability to consistently predict and guide that behavior and whether they are indoor or outdoor activities. Attractions and recreational businesses that are more outdoors than indoors or that do not require or lend themselves to close personal interaction (e.g. golf, singles tennis, zip lines) will be able to operate more freely and more along the lines of their pre-pandemic models, only needing to adjust for lines, ancillary activities and peak- period crowding. Other activities generally performed by groups of people in enclosed spaces (e.g. laser tag, movie theaters and other entertainment, indoor sports) are going to be far more challenging to operate and maintain profitability, even assuming a relaxation of spacing and capacity restrictions once the pandemic passes. This does not mean they cannot survive. However, it means that planning and operational adjustments will be more involved and revenue expectations will need to be lowered. Many leisure activities fall somewhere in the middle, such as outdoor amusement facilities, outdoor pool and waterpark facilities, bowling, museums, miniature golf and others. For such businesses, restrictions are likely to be more varied depending upon the region in which they are located. All will face increased pressure on revenue and profitability to some degree. However, that degree is more likely to vary by jurisdiction. It is important to remember, however, that the ultimate arbiter of success from a public health perspective is not conformance with local rules, but avoidance of large, publicized outbreaks. As meatpacking plants have demonstrated, conforming to current guidance does not guarantee protection and uninterrupted operations.
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