Hospitality: ‘This is unfair, we’re going to court’
Going out for drinks, having lunch out and enjoying dinner in the city are all possible again. Only nightclubs and discos are still not allowed to open by the government. Unfair, says Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, and the organisation is preparing legal proceedings against the government.
What is the current situation with the coronavirus measures? Restaurants and terraces are more or less open, although health checks are still being carried out in some places. But nightclubs and discos must remain closed until 1 November. And pubs and cafés are only allowed to remain open until midnight. Hello, says Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN), that’s not fair: ‘The clubs are being presented with the bill for the relaxations that were introduced too quickly,’ says KHN’s lawyer. The law firm is preparing a summons against the government to rectify this unequal treatment.
Get rid of that mountain of debt
Entrepreneurs could apply for the TOZO scheme, a benefit for entrepreneurs affected by coronavirus. The benefit fell far short of covering everything, but it was something. And the scheme is expected to end on 1 October. Not fair either, because nightclub owners will then have to remain closed for at least another month. Other hospitality entrepreneurs, such as people with a hotel or conference centre, are also nowhere near out of the woods: tourism from abroad has almost come to a standstill, no conferences or events are being organised, and it also does not look as though that will be back in full swing by 1 October.
Increase the vaccination rate
According to KHN chairman Robèr Willemsen, the hospitality industry is being ‘used’. ‘The measures are being deployed as a means of increasing the vaccination rate,’ he tells trade magazine Misset Horeca. ‘That is unacceptable. This puts the principles of hospitality and entrepreneurship in the hospitality industry at risk.’
The trade association has a wish list for the government: it wants hospitality entrepreneurs’ debts to the government, such as to the Tax and Customs Administration, to be written off. They also demand an official, well-substantiated coronavirus recovery plan with a structural solution to entrepreneurs’ financial problems. ‘If the measures continue until the end of the year, financial support must also remain available until then,’ says Willemsen.
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Source: Misset Horeca
