Mapping the UK’s phased reopening of hospitality industry
The UK government has recently (as of April 12th) relaxed some measures, allowing hospitality venues to serve clients in outdoor spaces. While not every restaurant or pub can benefit from this temporary arrangement, people have flocked to the ones that did open. Planning ahead and booking in advance is now more crucial than ever.
Since last year, Google has been updating its mobility index and has now added regional granularities to their open datasets. This rich view, which aggregates mobility data of people’s visits to places that fall under certain category, gives us nice insights into the collective mind of the nation.
Using the map boundaries from the Open geography Portal, I have mapped a time series of the frequency of visits to places of Retail and Recreation (here is where they would classify the entertainment venues such as restaurants, pubs, hotels, theatres, etc).
It is very interesting to see how the shift is generalised across all country on a specific date: in April 12th, visits were back at the level of the comparison baseline. This is amazing, taking into account that temperatures have not risen comfortable levels for sitting outdoors. The data also shows, however, that the rebound has not been consistent enough to surpass the levels of the baseline (which is a 5 week period in Jan-Feb 2020). This might have to do with the limited seating availability at the venues, or it could also signal that some people are not ready yet to go out and have a drink.
Here is a zoomed in version for Greater London:
I would be updating this entry on May 17th, which is when hospitality venues are allowed to sit guests indoors. Hopefully, the visit to these kind of places will increase in favour of the hospitality industry by then.
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