Restaurants, Hotels, and Entertainment have taken the hardest hit from Government restrictions due to Covid-19. Economists predict higher prices when it comes to eating out, going out for a beer or seeing a movie. Chair of the Economics Department at the University of Houston, Dietrich Vollrath says Hospitality and Entertainment industries won't come back quickly, either. "Until you fix the health situation, you can't fix hospitality. People were and are afraid and people are staying out of those places because of the health situation. " Neighborhood eateries and movie houses were already running on shoestring budgets, so they weren't prepared to handle last year's lock-downs. As they come back, they will probably increase prices and lay off personnel because they will be serving fewer customers and have less competition.
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Vollrath also says crises sometimes hasten progression. "I think the events of the pandemic in the last year have accelerated a lot of changes that might have taken five to ten years if there had not been a pandemic." He says movie theaters were already planning changes due to the surge of online, cable and subscription services, and restaurants that wouldn't have made it another year have folded. With suppliers facing covid- related production obstacles of their own and fewer dining seats to fill, prices will certainly go up.
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