Checking coronavirus access passes to cost businesses €10,000

Checking customers' coronavirus access passes, which will be mandatory in the catering and cultural sectors from September 25, will cost businesses over 10 thousand euros if the measure applies until November 1 as planned, trade unions calculated, NU.nl reports.

VNPF, the association that represents the event sector and venues, estimates that the extra work involved in checking coronavirus access passes will cost an average of 450 euros per performance. "If we calculate with about four performances a week, we arrive at 1,800 euros for a week," director Berend Schans said to the newspaper. Over the entire period up to November 1, it will cost some 10,800 euros.

The catering sector is facing similar costs, but there the estimates vary more. One entrepreneur expects to spend 250 euros extra per day, another 1,080 euros. According to Johan de Vos of the Breda department of hospitality association KHN, hiring an extra staff member to check passes costs an average of 30 euros per hour. "If you then assume that cafes are open on average from 10:00 a.m. to midnight, that is 420 euros per day and 15,500 euros for the entire period," he said.

These extra costs will be hard to bear for entrepreneurs in the two sectors hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Catering establishments had to close for long periods in the past 18 months, and hardly any events took place. Whether the cabinet will compensate businesses for these mandatory additional costs, is unclear.