How do restaurants respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? Lessons from Colombian restauranteurs and their survival strategies.

This study attempted to identify the overall impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry in Colombia through the interviews with ten restaurant owners or chefs (e.g., fine-dining, family-dining, casual dining, and quick-service restaurants). Adopting the three phase post-pandemic planning framework, this study examined how the restaurants responded, recovered, and renewed their businesses and what survival strategies they have been implementing to respond to the new normal after the COVID-19 outbreaks. Findings of the study indicated the restaurants in Colombia focused on and developed four operational survival strategies: operational transformation and challenges, government support, social responsibility, and precautionary measurement practices, focusing on their core value and assets such as employees and menus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]