October the 20th, 2020 – More measures have been introduced across the country in an attempt to further curb the infection rate which has risen to record numbers over recent days. As a result, the Croatian hospitality sector is growing ever more concerned about what that means for business and revenue – or indeed a lack of both.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of October, 2020, it has now been a week since the introduction of new epidemiological measures in Croatia. The drop in traffic in cafes and restaurants is steadily increasing, and attendance in some places is a worrying 80 percent lower than usual, reports RTL.
The guild of caterers is aware – the measures must be respected for the health of everyone, but they say that if this continues, they’re simply not going to be able to survive. Despite Plenkovic having stated that he has no plans to introduce another lockdown like the one we experienced back in spring, how does the Croatian hospitality sector view the threat of such a move?
After the introduction of new epidemiological measures which regard places like cafes, the owner and the so-called ”corona warden” was nearly forced to put the key in his facility’s lock after thirty long years of operation.
“I specifically told my staff to serve the guests, put whatever they order on the house and then just close the place down. One waiter cried and begged for that not to happen, there’s a lump in my throat as I talk about this… he asked me if we can stay like this for thirty more days and adjust to all of the measures,” said Franz Letica from Zagreb.
Letica’s glass is far from half full these days, as he is among those in the Croatian hospitality sector whose traffic and therefore revenue has dropped drastically.
“There’s no work, there’s no traffic, the bar is empty, I had to fire two people in the meantime,” Letica said.
However, Zagreb’s Mayor Milan Bandic joined in solidarity with Zagreb’s hospitality workers two days ago. The city continues with subsidies – reducing the payment of rents, utilities and abolishing the payment of fees for terraces.
“It will carry on until least until the end of the year, if God forbid it’s still necessary, we’ll protect our hospitality workers and our entrepreneurs,” assured a worried Bandic. A slightly more optimistic picture can be found on the terrace and inside the Split restaurant, but when things are looked at on a monthly basis, it’s far from last year’s figures.
“For September there was a drop of about 80 percent, for October it will certainly be more than 60 percent, and for November… I don’t know what to tell you, it all depends on what the weather will be like, everything depends on that,” Domagoj Curkovic, a restaurant manager in Split explained.
The Guild of Caterers says that without the repeated help of the state, a large number of cafes and restaurants will be forced to close down.
“It’s very difficult to endure it all in this way. If the number of positive people grows, we can expect closures, and without the help of the state, then tax measures aren’t enough, we’ll also need non-refundable funds “, said Joso Smojic from the guild of caterers and tourist workers of HOK.
A new lockdown is not an option at this time.
“We’re aware of what closing the economy means. For now, we have no plans for any new lockdown, it is not on the agenda,” assured Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
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