Laurence Dollimore
SOME 65,000 bars and restaurants will close this year due to the coronavirus.
That’s the stark prediction made by hospitality leaders, who also forecast a loss of between 900,000 and 1.1 million jobs.
COVID-19 lockdown and a plummet in tourism numbers have already seen 40,000 hospitality businesses close their doors.
That number is on track to increase by 20,000 but could also soar to 85,000 if the second wave is as lethal as feared, according to data from the Together with Hospitality organisation, consisting of groups Hospitality of Spain, FIAB and AECOC.
According to a survey of businesses nationwide, 97.7% say their second-quarter sales are worse compared to the same period in 2019, while more than 60% think sales will be worse in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, 19.6% of bars or restaurants have yet to open their doors since the end of the state of alarm on June 21, with 45.9% of these believing there is not enough demand to open.
Around a third of these opened and closed again while almost another third have decided to open in September instead.
Only 15.7% of hospitality businesses think sales will recover in 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of jobs in the sector fell by 17.4% in June, with 300,000 people losing their jobs, while some 557,254 were furloughed.
According to a study by the University of Valencia, the loss of jobs in June, directly and indirectly, is up to 1.1 million.
More worryingly, businesses in the hospitality industry are expected to see annual turnover fall by more than 50%.
This would represent a staggering loss of €67 billion.
The sector is pleading with the government to focus their aid efforts on the tourism industry.
