The hospitality industry fears the corona measure that the cafes and restaurants in the large cities and surrounding municipalities will have to turn on the lights from midnight, no longer allow people in and close for an hour afterwards. Clearly more turnover is achieved during the night hours than early in the day, director Dirk Beljaarts of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN) told NU.nl on Friday.
The catering foreman cannot give an exact percentage to that. “But these are the hours in which more is earned. In the morning the cafes have to rely on coffee and tea. They generate less turnover than in those last hours.”
According to KHN, the youth does not start going out until around eleven or twelve. “If they know that they will not be able to come in at midnight, they may not come at all and will continue to drink at home,” Beljaarts predicts.
“In any case, the turnover decreases from the moment the lights go on and from 1 o’clock nothing is earned anymore.” The measure will have less impact for restaurants. Depending on the municipality, cafes are normally allowed to stay open until three or four in the morning.
The fact that the tap is closing has a direct turnover effect, but KHN also fears an indirect effect, because the catering industry is now again mentioned in the same breath with the number of increasing corona infections. “Then the idea may unfairly arise that it is not safe in the hospitality industry.”
The trade association already released Thursday Numbers publicly about the percentage of infections in the catering industry compared to home, family and knowledge circle and at work. The KHN chairman emphasizes that the sector takes public health very seriously. “But this measure cannot count on support.”
The cabinet will hold a press conference on Friday evening in which new – local – measures are announced.
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