Business Political Insights BPI.GE
TBILISI(BPI)- Coronavirus outbreak has already created problems for the restaurant business in Georgia – travel companies talk about mass deletion of reservations, demand is declining for services of public catering facilities so popular among foreign tourists.
According to the representatives of Keto & Kote restaurant Anri Maglakelidze, February- March is a traditionally passive season in terms of tourism when the demand for restaurants falls automatically. But this year, coronavirus outbreak has aggravated the situation and reduced the number of both foreign and local customers.
Manager at the restaurant at Barbara’s draws attention to the shortage of local clientele saying if the coronavirus situation does not stabilize in the near future, it will cause a damage to the business.
“February-March is not a tourist season; our restaurant is visited by foreign tourists who came to Georgia before cases of coronavirus were detected here. it is very difficult to predict what will happen after they leave. If flights are further canceled, then tourism industry, including the restaurant business, will face serious difficulties. The locals now prefer to stay away from crowded places and don’t go to restaurants either, ”he explains.
Sopho Gordadze, manager of the Tsiskvili restaurant, also speaks about the negative impact of reduced tourist flow on the restaurant business.
According to Gordadze, foreigners are massively canceling travel reservations that creates problems for related businesses, such as restaurants. If everything continues at the current pace, the country’s economy will slump a whole.
Gorgadze adds that in the last year or two, the tourism and restaurant business has faced serious external problems.
“Last year Russia announced travel ban on Georgia that negatively affected the country’s economy. Now we are dealing with a much large-scale and more complex challenge. We can only hope that the situation will soon stabilize, ” Sopho Gordadze points out.
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