The catering sector is coming up with a roadmap to be able to reopen safely in the short term. Koninklijke Horeca Nederland wants to reopen quickly despite the high contamination figures, if necessary by scanning QR codes.
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The sector has set up three steps: permanent seating in restaurants and cafes, no new guests entering after ten o’clock and scanning QR codes; from 1 February, the permanent seat will disappear and no new guests are allowed in from 12 noon; two weeks later, KHN wants to use normal closing times again.
Clubs and discotheques can also open again. The same opening hours and times for admitting new guests apply there as at cafes and the corona ticket is also checked at the entrance. They should be able to open at full capacity from January 15.
Robèr Willemsen, chairman of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, thinks that this way the catering industry can safely open its doors again, without becoming a source of infection.
Other countries
For its plans, KHN looks at what is happening in other countries and at the pace of the booster campaign in the Netherlands. In addition, the trade association believes that the catering industry ‘has once again demonstrated since the summer that it can open safely without being a major source of contamination’.
KHN wants to talk to the cabinet about ways in which perspective can be offered ‘and not always look at what is not possible’, says director Dirk Beljaarts. In order to also offer prospects for the longer term, the cabinet must come up with an exit strategy, so that the catering industry knows where the sector stands for the coming months.
Perspective
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‘We have not had that perspective in the past two years. There have been roadmaps, but the government didn’t stick to them.’ According to Beljaarts, it is essential for some of the catering businesses that clarity is provided about when they can open again. ‘Business bookings are often several months in advance and are only made when it is clear that events can take place. Hotel bookings for international tourists are not just done lightly either.’
It is not the first time that KHN wants to offer the cabinet a direction with its own road map. Last time, the politicians did nothing about it. Now that the number of corona infections is rising, there is a risk that this will happen again. ‘We understand the difficult situation of the cabinet and we absolutely do not want to sit in the medical chair,’ explains Beljaarts.
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