Catering analyst: Smoking ban to hit terraces next

Catering analyst Wouter Verkerk believes that terraces will be the next target for a smoking ban. According to him, it is only a matter of time before the outdoor area will also be a smoke-free zone. 

"More and more customers are asking for a smoke-free terrace, they find it nasty to sit in others' smoke. Also on the terrace, smoking is increasingly difficult to maintain." Verkerk, who gives training in the hospitality industry, said to the AD. He believes that the days of smoking on the terrace are numbered.

Tobacco control professor Marc Willemsen agrees with this viewpoint. "There is talk of changing ethics. Not smoking has become the norm. Smoking is outdated. It is becoming less acceptable, even in outdoor areas." The health risks to passive smokers are much lower on the terrace than inside, but the discomfort is the same. "This is purely a nuisance." And one that affects 75 percent of the Dutch population.

"The smokers make up 25 percent of the population, they inconvenience 75 percent", according to Ton Voeten of Clean Air Nederland. "Hospitality is smoke free One must realize that smoking causes nuisance. We receive daily emails from people who find smoke on the terrace extremely annoying." he said to the newspaper.

Organizations such as Clean Air Nederland and Longfonds, or Lung Fund in English, have not yet made smoking on terraces a priority, but they are expectantly watching initiatives of private entrepreneurs, according to the AD. Longfonds is currently focusing on making sure that all schoolyards are smoke-free. Clean Air Nederland is preparing lawsuits to curtail smoking in the private sphere.