Schade Ierse pubs wordt steeds zichtbaarder
In het begin van het algemene rookverbod in de Ierse pubs liep het aantal bezoekers op. Enerzijds was dat om de nieuwigheid van de situatie, anderzijds was het aprilweer vriendelijk en konden rokers makkelijk buiten terecht.
Hoewel het nu ook in Ierland zomer is, is het weer er niet beter op geworden en buiten zitten is geen pretje. En dat is te merken. Vele eigenaren melden 15-50% omzetverlies. Pubs die om de een of andere reden mensen geen terras aan kunnen bieden worden het zwaarst geraakt. Zij verliezen klandizie aan naburige pubs die wél een terras hebben.
Een journalist inventariseert de voor veel pubs penibele situatie in Ierland.
For some it is even worse than their most vivid nightmares predicted, whether they operate in a busy town centre, a working class suburb or the countryside. “It’s a disaster, my trade is easily down 20 per cent,” said Frank O’Connell who owns MacTurcails, a pub in the centre of Dublin that was popular with tourists and locals alike. “Some blame the price increases but that’s simply not true, I haven’t raised my prices at all.”
Many felt Dublin city centre was not the correct barometer for the decline but the fact that there has been a constant level of trade from tourists during the last decade means the drop in trade is even more apparent. “Our best tourists came from the UK,” added Mr O’Connell. “When they heard about the ban they started looking elsewhere for their weekend breaks. We’re losing them fast.”
Out in the country the story is the same. Seamus O’Donoghue is president of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, an organisation that represents the interests of more than 800 Irish licensees who operate outside of Dublin. He also owns a pub in the town of Portlaoise, in the middle of the country.
“Trade is down,” he said in his pub, O’Donoghue’s. “At first we survived because customers were happy to give it a go, but people who have been smoking all their lives aren’t going to stop because it’s banned in pubs, they’ll just stop coming to pubs. I’ve not seen any new customers and trade in my pub is down 20 per cent. Our members are telling us it’s down at least by 15 per cent on average so all we can hope is that they re-open the debate.”
