Hospitality sector pleads for compensation, perspective from new parliament

One day after the election and as the results are trickling in, hospitality association KHN called on the new parliament to please offer catering entrepreneurs some perspective and compensate all of the damage they suffered as a result of measures against the coronavirus.

This plea is not new and no different from previous appeals, but it bears repeating, KHN director Dirk Beljaarts said to ANP. The association believes that catering establishments can open safely under the current coronavirus restrictions.

Catering establishments have been closed for everything except takeaways since October. These measure aren't only impacting the sector, but also entrepreneurs, their staff and their families, Beljaarts said. According to him, catering entrepreneurs have already invested at least 5 billion euros of their own money and resources to keep afloat during the crisis. And that while the crisis was not caused by the sector, he said.

If the government does not come with perspective, the KHN worries that it will face a whole series of lawsuits from entrepreneurs who want to enforce rent discounts and other arrangements. The government can intervene though rental law and prevent this, the KHN said.

Beljaarts also called on the banks to take the "corporate social responsibility" they brag about in their brochures and communications, and step up to help the catering sector. "After the first payment break had ended, banks came up with the magic word of customization. We know that in practice this means that they did not listen and that entrepreneurs had to make payments again," he said to the news wire.