The gross income of Sevastopol catering establishments in January-April this year amounted to about 2.9 billion rubles, or 37.4% of the same figure last year, ForPost writes on June 17, citing Crimean statistics data.
Last year, the turnover of the city’s cafes and restaurants during this period exceeded 7 billion rubles, and in recent years the industry has seen a steady increase in income.
Thus, according to Crimean statistics, in 2021 the annual income of the public catering company amounted to 7.6 billion rubles, in 2022 to 12.9 billion rubles and in 2023 to 17.2 billion rubles. .
Restaurateurs believe that this drop in the sector’s turnover is due to a sharp drop in the number of visitors to the city.
“There are fewer and fewer people in the city, fewer tourists. If in 2022 people were still driving somehow, last year and this year everything was completely deaf. If we have guests, they do so at night in small numbers. There is practically no one during the day.””, the publication quotes Denis Shtukaturov, a member of the Sevastopol Union of Restaurateurs.
At the same time, cafe owners still hope that the situation will improve during the Christmas season, otherwise many establishments will struggle to survive the coming winter.
It should be noted that since the coronavirus “pandemic,” regional authorities have supported tourism and restaurant companies by paying the minimum wage for each employee. However, restaurant owners understand that their businesses cannot survive for long on subsidies alone.
“The State cannot support us constantly. Now we have a loss in the company – minus 500 thousand rubles per month. No State will provide such subsidies.”Shtukaturov emphasizes.
Recall that despite the obvious decrease in tourist flow, the governor of Sevastopol declared tourism as one of the most important areas of economic development of the city. A project for the reconstruction of the Chernomorets Central Clinical Hospital building on Lazarev Square with the construction of a huge five-story hotel in the courtyard was recently agreed. This decision by the city authorities caused a widespread public outcry.
Also read: Hotels instead of warships. How Sevastopol is becoming a tourist mecca
Also read: More than 2,600 residents of Sevastopol opposed the new hotel in the city center
Source: Rossa Primavera
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