Why It’s a Really Bad Idea to Make the Hospitality Industry Close Earlier
There’s another press conference tonight, which you’ve probably noticed. And just like with the previous press conferences, quite a bit is already leaking out beforehand…
Closing earlier
It looks like the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague are going to face stricter rules regarding the hospitality industry. The closing times are apparently going to change; everything has to close earlier. I’m already hearing quite a bit of criticism about this from people around me, and I can only say that I completely agree. Closing the hospitality industry earlier, in the way they’re planning to do it, doesn’t seem likely to make much difference. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Nowhere near ready to go home
The plan is to close venues at 1:00 a.m., and from midnight onwards all the lights inside must be on and the music off; new guests will no longer be allowed in. Terraces may not stay open any longer and must close at midnight. Why don’t I like the idea? Because people often don’t want to go home at midnight. And if you’re sitting on a terrace and would like to linger for another hour, you’re no longer allowed inside. Not that you’d really want to, with the lights already on and the music off. No, that doesn’t exactly seem conducive to the atmosphere.
House party
And what’s the consequence? People will either stay home anyway, or go home at midnight to continue the party or drinks. Just to clarify: 55 percent of infections occur in the home environment, and 5 percent in the hospitality industry. Five! And it’s for that five percent that they’re tightening the measures again. A sector that has already taken an incredibly hard hit (and is still recovering) is now being targeted again because of the infections.
Till the beat goes on
I understand that monitoring what happens in people’s homes isn’t feasible, but that’s precisely why I understand these measures even less. With 55 percent of infections occurring indoors, wouldn’t you actually want people to stay outside? Why aren’t terraces allowed to stay open for another hour (until 1:00 a.m.), with that also immediately becoming the closing time for both outdoor and indoor areas? The risk of infection is lower because you’re outside. With an hour to bridge the gap, you’ll get arguments with intoxicated guests who want to go inside but aren’t allowed to, and you’ll actually encourage people to continue the party at home.
Student houses
It’s well known that infections have risen sharply among students. Where do many of them live? That’s right, in student houses. Where will they all party if they aren’t allowed into the hospitality venues? Exactly, in those student houses. And that’s only going to happen more often now that the hospitality industry is being restricted again.
Grumph…
I have to say that I’m becoming incredibly fed up with the current policy. Corona has already dealt the economy a devastating blow, so why target a sector that accounts for such a small share of new infections and could really use the customers? With 55 percent occurring in the home environment, you’d expect them to tackle that. But no, apparently that tiny five percent is much more important after all…
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