Although the past holidays have not repaired all the damage of the corona in the hospitality sector, according to the president Robèr Willemsen of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, the full restaurant and hotel reservations had a precious meaning. “It symbolizes the mental boost that consumers and entrepreneurs needed.”
After being (partially) closed for two years, the restaurant business was fully opened during the holidays in 2022. “And while that didn’t immediately solve the corona problem, it was good for the morale of the hospitality business” Willemsen says.
He is supported in this by sector specialist Jos Klerx from Rabobank Horeca & Recreation. ‘Finally there was a normal Christmas again, and that was true for all sectors. In December we saw that everything was fine everywhere.’
China
However, he recognizes that – in connection with the corona situation in China, among other things – there are things that are not yet quite up to international standards. “So you see that specific areas like Giethoorn are still affected by international restrictions, but you shouldn’t forget that Chinese tourism is a relatively small group of the total number of tourists in the Netherlands.”
Klerx points out that the Dutch hospitality industry depends more on, for example, German tourists or Belgian tourists. “Those are much more important countries to us.”
confinement
However, the damage of the last few years is far from being undone, he says. “In January 2022, there was a decline in turnover of more than fifty percent in the corona years,” says Klerx. ‘On the other hand, there’s a lot of debt that entrepreneurs have built up over those years, so the impact has been really significant.’
Not only financially, but also mentally, adds Willemsen Klerx. “The corona crisis has had different phases and each phase has been a slap in the face for the entrepreneur,” says Willemsen. ‘In that period we have used up about six billion savings and pension funds, we have accumulated one and a half billion in arrears that have to be paid since April, so the financial impact is huge. Whenever people thought it was finally over, uncertainty about the future set in.”
He says this is also a difficult time for staff. “They constantly had to ask themselves if they wanted to continue working in the same industry, times that are so very uncertain,” she concludes, while praising the disappearance of that uncertainty. “The fact that we continue this winter in this way, despite other problems, means that the uncertainty has disappeared.”
Source: BNR
Andrew Dwight is an author and economy journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of financial markets and a passion for analyzing economic trends and news. With a talent for breaking down complex economic concepts into easily understandable terms, Andrew has become a respected voice in the field of economics journalism.
