The trade, which is supposed to open on December 13th, is satisfied. There is sometimes harsh criticism from the catering and hotel industries, which see no objective reason for not being able to work again until later. Night gastronomy also requires a perspective as to when it can be reopened.
Incomprehension among restaurateurs
The catering industry lacks any understanding that you can only open on December 20th, said chairman Peter Dobcak. The fact that the gastronomy is not allowed to open on December 13th but on December 20th means that the Christmas season is over for them. Because over the holidays is family time, there is more cooking and the relatives are visited, said Dobcak, chairman of the gastronomy department at the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. The industry is therefore calling for a one hundred percent replacement in sales and accompanying measures such as the extension of the five percent VAT – after the restaurant industry has only benefited to a limited extent due to the lockdown. In addition, the ancillary wage costs should be reduced “and that starts with the municipal taxes in Vienna, because the mayor has a direct influence on that,” said Dobcak.
Outrage among hoteliers
The hoteliers reacted with outrage to the announcement by the mayor of Vienna that the hotels would be closed for a week longer than the retail trade. “I think that is a completely impartial and wrong decision,” said Michaela Reitterer, head of the Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV). This is absurd, especially in Vienna, because Vienna has an exemplary infrastructure for PCR tests, a very low corona incidence throughout Austria and there has not yet been a hotel cluster in Vienna. Now the guests would migrate abroad, the economic damage could not even be assessed.
Joy in trading
Only Margarete Gumprecht, chairwoman of the trade division of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, responded with satisfaction. She said of the regulation, according to which the trade may open again on Monday for vaccinated and convalescent people: “We can only welcome that.” It is “bitter” that the catering trade cannot open at the same time and that will also cost sales, but Gumprecht assumes that people will “go shopping specifically” after the lockdown. A part of the turnover was lost to online shops, but many people have now informed themselves online and go to shops already knowing what they want. The open Sunday on December 19th is a particular pleasure for retailers.
According to all previous announcements, the lockdown will only end for vaccinated and convalescent people (2G). The control of who is at most unvaccinated is “a very big challenge”, but a meeting of the trade supervisors showed “a willingness to give them thought about how this can be controlled,” said Gumprecht. The biggest disaster would be if there was still a lockdown, but “before we lock down again, you just have to find a way to better control it”. And, so Gumprecht confidently: “We have already solved a lot in Austria and will be able to solve that too.”
No prospects for club operators
In the club and disco scene, however, there is “still a lack of prospects”, complained night gastronomy spokesman Stefan Ratzenberger. Now it is finally a matter of “getting an announcement” – for example, according to which one can reopen along with the implementation of the compulsory vaccination, he demanded in an interview with the APA. “We need planning security,” said Ratzenberger, who recalled that the nightspots will soon have been closed for two years – with only a brief interruption. He also called for further state aid. One expects to finally be able to reopen with 2G-plus. Only when – that’s open.
Source: Nachrichten
