The future for the pub is selling quality real ale. It's the only part of the market that is growing. My home town, Keighley, is famous for the quality of the beer sold in its pubs, mostly from the excellent local brewer Taylor's. Most of the towns pubs are doing well. Some places have shut in the town centre, but perhaps tellingly most of the ones that have gone have been the alcopops-karaoke type. Even out in the sticks, most villages hold onto their pubs for similar reasons - the quality of their beer and their food (there are always exceptions). One pub in the village where my friends live was a great example of a community boozer - real fire, great beer, top quality food. The tenants loved the pub and it showed. When they retired, the 'new people' stuck a huge and intrusive TV screen in the main bar, the food was frozen stuff sold for the same price as fresh, and beer quality declined - and punters stayed away in droves. The new tenants didn't stay long, and now the place is back on form and owned by a local microbrewery.
Where I live in London - Leytonstone - the best pub in the area for 'proper' beer, The North Star, is thriving. The landlord of another pub in the area was moaning that his trade had dropped off a cliff. I've been to that pub, and it was like a mortuary - no real ales, and what lager was available was twice the price of a supermarket. Where was the added value? The atmosphere? The welcome? There's more to a pub than just beer. I can drink far more cheaply at home, but I will happily pay a premium for a good beer in a good pub - and I think most people will.