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The restaurant industry is critical of the government’s decision to ban the sale of alcohol after 10 pm. I don’t understand why people go to restaurants, says Visit Executive Director Jonas Siljhammar.
Visits CEO Jonas Siljhammar. Stock Photography.
The director general of the business association Visit, Jonas Siljhammar, says he is “very skeptical” about the government’s decision, which is to be applied from 20 November until the end of February.
The decision prohibits the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m., and is another measure to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
– It will directly hit an industry that is already on its knees, which is going through an extremely difficult time, says Siljhammar and continues:
– The effect will be that places with service permits will have to close around 10pm, says Siljhammar.
The executive director of Visit asks if it is a problem to sell alcohol after 10 pm.
– The government, of course, wants people to be more careless when they drink alcohol. But it’s better for it to happen in restaurants than at home and at parties, which I sadly think will be a consequence. In restaurants, alcohol consumption is done in an orderly manner and infection control measures are in place, Siljhammar says.
Visit wants the companies affected by the decision to receive compensation from the state. Malin Ackholt, president of the Union of Hotels and Restaurants, also believes, and emphasizes that she does not want to take a position on the decision itself.
– Our starting point is that as many companies as possible should be open in the industry, safely. It is absolutely necessary that there is full compensation for the affected companies. It’s fairly large parts of our industry that have open operations after this time, Ackholt says.
For Pitcher’s sports bar in Falun, the news is a fatal blow.
– We have had it very hard the last three weeks. Here it is empty on weekdays. We have a few guests on Fridays and Saturdays, but even that doesn’t cover our costs, says restaurateur Ramazan Bozlak.
A ban on alcohol after 10 p.m. and closing at 10.30 p.m. would make it impossible for the city’s restaurateurs to survive, he says.
– I can’t sell soft drinks to survive. If we are forced to close this way, we must also receive a cost reimbursement from the state to survive. Otherwise, we will be bankrupt and our 15 employees will lose their jobs.
