Covid-19 has had an impact on restaurant bookings over Christmas, several industry representatives told The Malta Independent.
Ever since the pandemic first reached the islands, many businesses have been going through hard times. A vaccine for the virus was brought to Malta last week and vaccinations have begun being administered. Government support for businesses, meanwhile, has continued and a number of restrictions remain in place. The fear of Covid-19 has meant that people are more careful when it comes to deciding whether to go out or not. In addition, a number of Covid-19 prevention measures are also in place, some of which directly affect restaurants for example, which need to keep minimum distances between tables. Bars, meanwhile, are currently closed.
President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) Tony Zahra told The Malta Independent that the demand for restaurants for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was 'subdued'. He said that it was nowhere near the demand seen during the same period last year.
Zahra said that New Year's Eve and New Year's Day could be slightly better when compared to Christmas, however added that the demand will still be subdued and the demand will not be anywhere near what it was in past years. As for hotels and bed nights, he said that the demand was good in Gozo and in some pockets around Malta over Christmas, but again described the demand as being subdued.
“We are all waiting for the vouchers to come out," he said, adding that their introduction last time saw an injection into the economy.
Industry representatives from the Chamber of SMEs and the Association of Catering Establishments highlighted that limited seating capacities affected bookings.
Secretary of the Association of Catering Establishments (ACE) Matthew Pace told this newsroom that the feedback ACE received from a survey conducted throughout the week of Christmas indicates that sales were very low for its members in comparison to last year.
“Honestly, we expected to half last year’s turnover at least, but obviously the restricted table capacity limited our revenues,” ACE Secretary Pace added.
Most establishments that are function or event oriented recorded an 80% drop in sales. With regards to a la carte establishments, the average revenue from the feedback it has received so far stands at 38% with establishments in Sliema recording a better turnover than other localities.
Pace also mentioned that the weather played a negative part in this situation since a lot of bookings were cancelled because of the cold, wet and windy weekend.
Malta Chamber of SMEs Deputy President Philip Fenech said that the build-up to this year's festive season was nowhere close to last year's because of social distancing measures, which caused a lot of the usual events, like staff parties, to be cancelled.
Looking at Christmas Eve and Christmas Day specifically, there were some establishments that are popular among locals which had to refuse a lot of bookings since they are working at limited capacity because of Covid-19 measures, he said.
Fenech explained that there are establishments that are completely dependent on tourism because of their location and the way they are structured. These, he said, have suffered the most. Other establishments that have always had a mix of local customers and tourists benefitted from the spill-overs of the more locally popular spots, he added.
He said that there was still a demand for deliveries from in-house domestic events that were set-up during this period as people are more hesitant to go out, which also helped generate business for catering companies.
New Year’s looking more positive
Asked about the indications for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, ACE’s Secretary Pace said that they are looking a bit more positive with regards to bookings for some, but holistically the whole festive season will prove to be very negative; “the lack of tourists is also taking its toll on our sector.”
Pace stressed how desperately this sector needs the second batch of Covid-19 vouchers to be issued. They are set to be issued in January and “the sooner they are in hand the better for our sector,” he said. This echoes what MHRA President Tony Zahra had said.
From his end, Fenech said that, in any situation, there are more people who celebrate and go out during New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day when compared to Christmas.
"So, obviously, we are expecting more of the same but on a larger scale. There are restaurants that are already fully booked and have been for a long time. We also know of a lot of catering companies that are booked for in-house events."
Photos: Alenka Falzon, File Photos from May