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The hotel restaurants suffered the most
“Currently, the occupancy rate of hotels in Kaunas and Vilnius is between 5 and 10 percent. The situation is terrible, you cannot live. This problem affects not only the hotels, but also their restaurants,” he told the portal. Delfi Zigmantas Dargevičius, director of the Kaunas Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Crafts, director of the hotel chain of 6 companies in Lithuania.
Speaking about the crisis that affected hotel restaurants, the businessman emphasized that they suffered due to their details. According to Z. Dargevičius, these are not entertainment restaurants that people would have fun with.
“If other restaurants are already recovering, some have reached up to 60 percent. Traffic, this makes our hotel restaurants completely stagnant. Still, they are more conference oriented, hotel oriented. There is also a Lithuanian mindset, the belief that everything is much more expensive in a hotel restaurant, although this is not the case. People do not want to go to a hotel restaurant for coffee and for other reasons. One of them, if someone sees me leaving from the hotel, they’ll think of something, ”said Z. Dargevičius.
The hotel sector predicts an impending crisis
The businessman mentioned that due to the drastic reduction in the number of visitors that was forced to close one of the hotels in Kaunas, he mentioned that he would consider whether the restaurant’s activities were worth continuing. Although this hotel seems to accept guests, they are staying at another company hotel.
“There are practically no tourists. People come from neighboring countries, mainly for business. Overnight and going out. The situation is critical, and we have repeatedly asked the government working groups and the Ministry of Economy to provide some kind of grant so we can live until at least July of next year.
Without support, the sector will face a collapse, after which recovery will be extremely difficult. Can you imagine what will happen in the winter without the funds to pay for heating? The hotel is a complex mechanism, of thousands or tens of thousands of square meters, this area needs to be heated, at least minimally illuminated, maintained, “said the director of Luks.
Z. Dargevičius did not hide: a significant part of the hotel employees managed by him were released in whole or in part. The businessman mentioned that after the end of state support, the hotel sector faces extremely difficult times.
“For me it is quite clear that the crisis is yet to come. Without the support of the state, the crisis in the housing sector will be enormous. The half-year loan deferrals will end, they will have to be paid from somewhere, but there will be nothing and there will be no need to keep employees. In any case, in November, January and December, the Lithuanian hotels practically did not survive, they were subsidized with the profits obtained in other months, “said Z. Dargevičius to the Delfi portal.
Some employees no longer want to work, others demand higher wages.
The manager of one of the country’s largest hotel chains revealed that after the quarantine, another problem was found, employees no longer want to work.
“I will be unpopular, but quarantine has weaned people from working. If in the past the hotel room received a salary of 550-600 euros, then four months after receiving 437 euros, a person no longer wants to work, since it’s hard to call him to work. And others who feel the situation are starting to demand higher wages, “said Z. Dargevičius, president of the Kaunas Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Crafts, who manages the chain of 6 hotels.
Vytautas Gustas, the businessman who runs two hotels in Kaunas, Daugirdas in the old town and Perkūno namus in Žaliakalnis, did not hide his wife, due to the difficult time, some employees had to be fired and one of the hotels was temporarily closed .
“Currently, the number of incoming customers is still not such that it would be convenient to open both hotels. Today, when we meet loyal old customers and save our costs, we accommodate them to the prices of” Perkūno namai “in the hotel” Daugirdas “, they occupy approximately 10 rooms per day, “said the businessman.
The co-owner of two Kaunas hotels did not immediately hide, anticipating that a hotel would have to be closed, so employees had to be fired.
“The subsidy system is not perfect and the requirements are too strict. Therefore, we had to make that decision: select the best and most loyal employees and say goodbye to others,” said the businessman.
“Open” Palanga attracts not only vacationers, but also employees
When asked if Lithuanian tourists are expected to travel their country, V. Gustas mentioned that there are no attractions in Kaunas that could attract them.
“Currently, the main destinations for travelers are the coast, Druskininkai, which has many SPA centers. Passengers stay in Kaunas, where we rely. This is not Vilnius, where all the ministries are located, where the delegations arriving are staying at local hotels, ”said V. Gustas.
Z. Dargevičius, the head of the Kaunas “Luks” company, which manages the hotel in Druskininkai and Palanga, mentioned what it feels like to increase visitors in these tourist cities on weekends, sometimes there are no more vacancies.
“But it will only last two months, in July and August. So the children are ready for school and everything closes,” said Z. Dargevičius.
V. Gustas, co-owner of Daugirdas and Perkūno namai, also mentioned another influence of the Palanga factor in the hotel business: by the sea, to attract many employees to work at a much higher salary.
“When Palanga offers a double rate and is currently taking basically anything, people spit out and go to work there for a couple of months. This earnings period will last until early September, after which these people, tempted to earn multiple thousands of euros in the short term, they will probably go to the Job Board (Employment Service – ed.). There is no other way, “V. Gustas told the Delfi portal.
The businessman clarified that the main restaurant employees, waiters and chefs had gone to work in Palanga from the hotels he managed.
The main guests in Kaunas are Latvians, Estonians and Poles
Inga Zimkevičiūtė, manager of the Kaunas Hotel, located in the center of Kaunas, in Laisvės Alley, did not hide; After the quarantine started, some of the restaurant employees had to be fired, the maids sent to downtime and now they are feeling the first signs of recovery.
The 85-room hotel occupies 50 to 60 rooms, and on some days this number does not exceed three dozen.
“Latvians and Estonians are beginning to travel little by little. We are a more business-oriented hotel, so we feel that this sector is also recovering. When doctors resume planned operations, we also receive medical tourists. Of course, We definitely will not achieve the kind of employment we had last year, but we are making some progress, ”said the director of the Hotel Kaunas.
V. Gustas, a businessman who runs two Kaunas hotels with his wife, mentioned a similar contingent of guests.
“Currently, our main guests, from Latvia, Estonia, have now started to travel a bit. Until now, tourists from Scandinavian countries are not going,” said V. Gustas.
The critical situation forces us to be more flexible.
I. Zimkevičiūtė, the manager of Hotel Kaunas, mentioned that when the number of travelers drops dramatically, hotels compete with each other by showing flexibility.
“Many people travel by car now, so it is very important where to park them. Not all hotels in Kaunas have the possibility of accepting guest cars for free. Many people travel with children, with animals, dominated by travel rooms. therefore, in this situation we must be as flexible as possible, “said I. Zimkevičiūtė.
He mentioned that with the increase in the number of commercial customers, many orders were received for the future when the flight instructions “opened.”
“But we are not very happy about that, we can change anything at any time.” We still don’t know what awaits us in the fall, “said I. Zimkevičiūtė, the director of the Hotel Kaunas.
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