RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS OF SWITZERLAND ARE AT RISK OF BANKRUPTCY

RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS OF SWITZERLAND ARE AT RISK OF BANKRUPTCY

RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS OF SWITZERLAND ARE AT RISK OF BANKRUPTCY

GastroSuisse, the largest Swiss employers' association in the hospitality industry, is sounding the alarm by calling on the authorities for immediate support for the industry. According to the experts, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic creates risks for the mass bankruptcies of most hotels and restaurants in Switzerland by March 2021. If the state refuses to provide urgent financial assistance, half of the hotels and restaurants in the country will face bankruptcy.



The situation with the spread of the disease in Switzerland remains very tense. For a state of 8.6 million inhabitants, the daily increase of 4,000 new cases of coronavirus infection creates significant risks. It is assumed that the government will have to extend the restrictive measures, including the closure of catering and entertainment organizations.

Initial plans to lift the restrictions after January 21, apparently, were not destined to come true.

The hospitality industry has previously faced two waves of layoffs following the announcement of the restrictive measures introduction. GastroSuisse warned about the layoffs of more than 100 thousand workers in the industry back in October 2020, when the second wave of the pandemic hit Switzerland. Now the representatives of the association are asking the state to allocate subsidies to support the industry in order to prevent a third wave of layoffs and mss bankruptcies.

GastroSuisse representatives conducted a survey of more than 4 thousand hotel and restaurant owners. It turned out that 98% of the owners are experiencing a liquidity shortage, despite the fact that before the pandemic the vast majority of organizations (about 80%) had a good financial cushion. Now they are on the brink of ruin.

About 60% of companies had to dismiss the staff in the past few months, having experienced the first wave of layoffs in the spring of 2020.

Whether the Swiss Federal Council will satisfy the wishes of the GastroSuisse association is still unknown. Considering that during the period of the pandemic, only according to the official data of COVID-19, about half a million residents were infected and more than 7.5 thousand people died, the state will not be likely to allow increased risks of the spread of infection. However, representatives of the profile association note that without a state support, March 2021 could become a black month for hotel and restaurant owners of the country.


12.01.2021