Palanga entrepreneurs are sending a message: quarantine will dictate different prices

Ingrida Valaitienė, director of the Palanga Hotel and Restaurant Association, says that forecasting the summer season is still difficult, but it is expected to be good, because people will not have the opportunity to go to other countries soon, they are likely to go. to the Lithuanian coast. She notes that even in the annual flow of visitors to the Palanga complex, about 80 percent. generally made up of local tourists.

“The quarantine seriously affected not only this, but the entire tourism sector, restaurants, cafes and accommodation services had to be stopped. The business went through stages of fear and uncertainty, it had to think about how to survive, how to deal with the However, no one thinks so drastically that after quarantine they will have to compensate and increase prices, by no means do we even think about it. As far as we discuss with members of the association, prices will remain the same as Last summer, however, it will be too early to talk about how the situation will develop later, “explains I. Valaitienė.

Tourists affected by the quarantine promise to reduce prices

Juozas Tubin, the founder of the seaside hotel and restaurant chain Tubinas, says the mood after the announced quarantine shock is gradually changing: He is comforted by the fact that as of May 11. the hotels will be able to admit guests. It also emphasizes that this year the prices of services should be lower, given the consequences of quarantine on the solvency of the local population.

“We were all in shock when the rotation fell to zero and the commitments continued to be honored. However, the hotels were rescued by a state aid mechanism that facilitated resolution of the situation. Observing the reserves, we see that the interest is very high, we expect many tourists in Palanga. Now May and June are coming, which is cheap enough, but for us, the peak period was generally July and August, when we generated most of the annual budget.

This year, prices will be determined by the creditworthiness of the population. In the past, customers could pay a lot, especially foreigners did not count much. This year we will have to work with the local market, and he is tired of quarantine. It can be assumed that the purchasing capacity will be less, so prices should be slightly lower than last year. Although there will be a great flow of people traveling, the price will be lower than what you would like to receive in those months ”, predicts J. Tubin.

According to the founder of the coastal hotel and restaurant chain, he had not heard of hotels that would consider closing due to the consequences of the quarantine, because “with the support of the state,” this period was really possible to survive. “

“Of course, we are glad that the crisis is not before winter, because then the mood would be bad at all. Summer is here, everyone is in a good mood, everyone expects us to work in the summer, but the uncertainty remains “says J. Tubin.

The restaurant manager has to hear about colleagues who will no longer open the door.

Located the first weekend of May, restaurant 4 in Palanga invites tourists to have a coffee and dine on the outdoor terrace. According to the restaurant manager Vesta Žemaitė, passers-by have so far been shy, stopping only for a cup of coffee or dessert.

“In Palanga, like every season, a lot depends on the weather, which generally determines the fate of all of us. This season will be decided not only by the weather, but also by quarantine. Until now, we only work one weekend: Friday , when it was sunny, the terrace was even full at once. Saturday cloudy, far fewer guests. We look forward to the opportunity to let the guests in, because until we have warm nights, it’s great to dine outside. During the day when the sun is hot during lunch, people go back to coffee, and there are far fewer serious dinners so people don’t sit down any longer, ”says V. Žemaitė on the start of work after the relaxation of the restrictions of quarantine.

The director of restaurant 4 says the quarantine has had a painful effect on the business, but she is also aware of much worse cases, according to her, some colleagues close the door, which may never reopen. The restaurant staff survived the quarantine after the cuts.

“We have quarantined the quarantine, but the situation is now much worse. All restaurants live on working capital, which means that the current month’s billing covers the expenses of the previous month. We had no income since mid-March and during all April, so the accrued bills were still pending. The situation is very complicated, maybe others will drop their arms and not try to get out of it, and we are still trying to stand up. We hope that more attention will be paid to the possibility of reducing VAT, given the fact that this will help us a lot and allow us to stabilize the finances of the company. Anyone who loves his job does not want to close and really fights, so it would be good for someone to help from above, “says the manager of the restaurant.

In terms of prices, it will be necessary to adapt to the client’s capabilities.

Although many guests came to the streets of Palanga over the weekend, Aurelė Stasiūnienė, the director of the Hotel Rąžė, realizes that when night came, they were left empty, most of the visitors leaving the coast, because the services Accommodation in Palanga are still suspended and activities are not taking place.

“Already in the current situation, we can see that the quarantine has had a particularly negative impact on the tourism sector. Compared to last year, at the same time we already had a significant flow of tourists from both Lithuania and foreign countries. Although the Hotel operations in Palanga have been renewed since May 11, the number of reservations is not yet encouraging, however we hope that as the weather warms up we will receive more guests from Lithuania this season, “says A. Stasiūnienė.

Currently, the team at the Hotel Rąžė is making plans on how to attract Lithuanian guests, as tourists from abroad will still have to wait due to the quarantine. Although the hotel had received many requests from neighboring countries this year, all were canceled after the quarantine was announced.

“This year we had more than usual tourist groups and individual orders from neighboring countries: Latvia, Estonia and Poland and others. It is very sad, but when the borders of the countries were closed, all orders were canceled, it is a loss indescribably large. Therefore, after the resumption of activities, we will have to focus on individual requests from Lithuanian guests. Our team, in response to cardinal changes, plans to attract Lithuanian guests and make attractive offers. Clearly there will be a need for extreme price flexibility and adaptation to customer expectations and opportunities, although quarantine has had a painful effect on business, we try to look positively into the future and hope that in the summer we can recover a little to to be able to exist ”, says A. Stasiūnienė.