OH YES: terraces are opening on 19 May from 07:00 to 20:00
Okay, this is really great news, everyone! There’s a seriously good chance that terraces will finally be allowed to stay open longer! If hospital admissions continue to fall, terraces may open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. starting Wednesday, 19 May.
The original plan was for these relaxations to take effect on 11 May, but the cabinet postponed them by at least a week because hospital admissions had not yet started to decline. In the end, it didn’t really matter anyway, because look at this weather…
From bad to worse
It still isn’t exactly terrace weather, of course. And when the sun finally does shine for a bit, like yesterday, you might find yourself enjoying a meal outside only to be suddenly hit by a torrential downpour. A terrace is only worthwhile if the weather is nice and stays nice, because you can’t move inside when an unexpected shower hits. You’ve just called in your staff and stocked the refrigerators to handle a busy lunch, and then a few clouds throw a spanner in the works. What a nightmare. For most hospitality businesses, the current terrace measures simply don’t work at all.
But let’s stay optimistic for a moment: the cabinet believes the time is right for the second step of the reopening plan.
Coffee in the morning, dinner in the evening
Tomorrow (Tuesday, 11 May), the cabinet will decide which conditions must be met for the relaxations to go ahead. The cabinet will not make the final decision until a week later, however. Hospitality entrepreneurs will therefore probably hear for certain on Monday, 17 May, whether they’ll be allowed to operate their terraces for more hours starting 19 May.
Extending opening hours from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. means that more will at least be possible, such as having coffee in the morning and dinner in the evening. That’s good news for the hospitality industry, because let’s be honest: the current opening hours are completely ridiculous. So you won’t have to travel to Belgium anymore either, where terraces are currently open from 08:00 to 22:00.
Open indoors
Now all we can do is hope for really lovely weather! The opening of restaurants (indoor spaces) is scheduled for 26 May.
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Source: Misset Horeca
