Washington Hospitality Association CEO Anthony Anton says, “We need to do a better job of explaining” the restaurant industry.
As president and CEO of the Washington Hospitality Association, Anthony Anton ticks off statistics faster than a server rattling off daily specials.
Only 2% of hospitality operators across the state say the industry is doing well. Canadian tourism is down 26%. Hotel occupancy is off, the minimum wage is up, and full-service restaurants report a net profit margin of just 1.5%, 60% lower than the national average. Dining out in Seattle is more expensive than anywhere else in the country.
Given those challenges and more, you’d think Anton would have a bleak view of the future. He doesn’t. Hospitality leaders, he says, are charting an ambitious path forward.
“I think we really need to do a better job explaining this industry,” Anton said at a recent ExplorePNW event to discuss the challenges facing hospitality operators and restaurateurs. “We need to build better community engagement and understanding. When you have a relationship that’s trusting, engaged and transparent, that’s going to help us make the dramatic kind of changes we need to make.”
Present challenges
Restaurants operate on some of the slimmest profit margins of any industry. On a $100 meal, the average restaurant in Washington state nets just $1.50. If someone breaks a plate, a reservation doesn’t show or a third-party delivery service reverses a charge, the restaurant loses money.
Younger consumers are also choosing mocktails instead of cocktails and drinking far less alcohol than previous generations. Restaurant profits are paying the price.
Anton, who frequently visits restaurants across the state on fact-finding missions and listening tours, said operators in larger cities such as Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane cite crime and the safety of guests and employees as major concerns.
Future opportunities
Anton, though, emphasizes several positive developments that could ultimately make restaurants stronger, smarter and more resilient. Perhaps most important is developing positive relationships with government so “it’s not antagonistic.”
He points to recent legislation signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson that seeks to generate at least $25 million annually to promote tourism across the state. For every overnight stay in a hotel, he adds, research shows visitors dine out twice.
Washington is also a proving ground for the technologies shaping tomorrow, particularly in AI, that could transform the entire industry. AI could, for example, help restructure labor models, ease scheduling challenges and help coordinate shared commissary kitchens and flexible team-sharing models.
Almost three-quarters of the restaurants Anton recently visited across the state were already using AI in some form. It surprised him.
“Most people didn’t get into this industry because they love computers. They got into it because they love food and community,” he said. “But the industry is now ready to say, ‘We need it.’ Bigger tech companies are stepping up to make sure these tools work for us.”