One in eight discos closed permanently during pandemic

One in eight discos in the Netherlands closed their doors permanently during the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdowns and restrictions also dealt a blow to bars and lunchrooms, AD reports based on a new analysis by ABN Amro of figures from Locatus.

The low number of bankruptcies and many new startups make it look like the hospitality industry managed to weather the coronavirus pandemic relatively well. But if you take a closer look, you see that some areas within the sector had very many businesses close permanently, Stef van Driessen of ABN Amro said to the newspaper.

Since the coronavirus outbreak in the Netherlands end-February 2020, 30 discos closed their doors permanently. That's 13 percent of the total number of discos in the country. The same goes for 492 pubs (-8 percent) and 237 lunchrooms (-6 percent).

The night catering industry, in particular, has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with curfews and night lockdowns having them closed for months on end. The Cabinet might extend opening hours for catering businesses to 1:00 a.m. when it relaxes coronavirus restrictions next week. But that still won't mean much for discos and nightclubs, hospitality association KHN pointed out.