Closed Restaurants, Cafés and Bars Amid the Spread of the Coronavirus

Coronavirus prevention measure, cafés, bars and restaurants closed amid the coronavirus outbreak, and the current challenges in the HoReCa industry – Guram Baghdoshvili, President of the Gastronomy Tourism Association, has analyzed these issues for the TV Program Business Partner. 

The Association is receiving  reports of employees being fired, and salaries only being paid partially. 

 “A lot of calls are being made to the Association, and people notify us that some of them were fired from their jobs. Some hotels have paid about 70% of their salaries, some of them paid only 50% or moved to a so-called standby regime. This is a confusing number. Let’s imagine the scale of the HoReCa industry, and how many people were left without incomes. All of them have to pay microcredit loans, and they have no savings. Nobody expected this crisis”, Baghdoshvili noted. 

Restaurants should begin courier delivery services to save business, Baghdoshvili noted. 

‘Today, my restaurant is bearing losses, because the turnover has declined and I have to maintain at least 4-5 employees. With corresponding opportunities, we will open restaurants and begin courier delivery services to save his business, because it took many years to drag Georgia out from the abyss of the 1990s”, Baghdoshvili pointed out, and explained that educational and training projects should not be suspended in the HoRea industry, despite the fact that the country has been effectively put on pause. 

After the coronavirus crisis is over, Georgia is expected to become one of the most popular tourism destinations, because more developed economies than Georgia have  failed to withstand the corona as effectively as Georgia has. Therefore, qualified staff will always be in demand in the HoReCa industry. 

As explained by Baghdoshvili, Georgia may become one of the first destinations, where tourists will rush to, because we are a small country, and we have so few infected people.

“Citizens, worldwide, support each other in this crisis. We try to stay safe and avoid communication as frequently as Georgians would like. Some European countries have not closed kindergartens and schools, and this is absolutely irresponsible. In Georgia, we actively fight against coronavirus. As for the future of the tourism industry in Georgia, regretfully, the recently-established Gastronomic Academy has suspended operations. The Academy was supposed to train about 100 students starting in April, 2020. These people would receive certificates recognized all over the world.

 Regretfully, this project was halted, I hope only until the autumn”, Baghdoshvili noted, and added that the Gastronomy Academy will presumably begin their first course in the autumn. 

“It is necessary to develop the agriculture sector to ensure the steadiness of the tourism and restaurants business,” Baghdoshvili explained, and further added that in the HoReCa sector, imports should be replaced by domestic products, and he expressed readiness to cooperate with the government in this regard, after the coronavirus crisis is at an end.

“In the event that the authorities ask for the assistance of restaurants, I will say, on my behalf, and I believe many colleagues will agree with me, that we should assemble and introduce a scheme to assist the agricultural sector’s development. Regretfully, HoReCa was developed without a strong foundation, and we were dependent on imports. It is necessary for the Agriculture Ministry to place their focus on arranging hothouses in the outlying regions to develop domestic production for domestic citizens and the tourism industry. As for exotic fruits and products, we will always be able to import these products.

Without a firm foundation for the authorities and tourism, we will have problems. Regretfully, many things were done, and the authorities had no time to effectively supervise and examine every aspect in this regard. And now, we will try to rapidly invent new bicycles. I believe and our agricultural workers will agree with me, that the agriculture sector should be developed to ensure a steady future for the restaurant business”, Baghdoshvili said.