Hotels have become adept at repurposing their spaces throughout the pandemic. Analysts now estimate that fewer than 5 percent of hotels in the United States are operating ghost kitchens from within their properties, but the number is expected to grow. “Hotels see this as a profit center,” said Frederick DeMicco, executive director of Northern Arizona University’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. “It supplements the existing menu options at the hotel, and extends well-respected restaurant brands as partners in the hotel,” he said. Average restaurant start-up costs for brick-and-mortar locations, in comparison, can run from $200,000 to more than $1 million.

Source: New York Times January 26, 2021 14:00 UTC