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After a year of ups and downs, which passed bars and restaurants (these service facilities along with nightclubs were the first to close with the appearance of Covid-19 in March) consumption in these units for 2021 is declining .
Enri Jahaj from the Association of Bars and Restaurants says for “Monitor” that in addition to the crisis from Covid-19, the decline in restaurant consumption has also been affected by the phenomenon of money laundering. Jahaj claims that money laundering has increased their indiscriminate opening, affecting the decline in turnover of other restaurants. “Consumption in restaurants is lukewarm, it is not fluid. The indiscriminate opening of new restaurants and customer insecurity have led to declining consumption. Their opening without criteria occurred due to dirty money that is quickly recycled in these service structures, unlike construction “, emphasizes the representative of the Association of Bars and Restaurants.
Money laundering through these structures is expected to continue for 2022. “As long as there is no self-declaration form for the investments made and you do not control who this phenomenon will continue for next year.”
INSTAT data, which are available until the second quarter of this year confirm that consumption in bars and restaurants is still below pre-crisis levels. The value index was 17% lower than the same period of 2019, although the indicator is significantly higher compared to the second quarter of 2020, when the country was in quarantine.
In the same line, employment has decreased in the bars and restaurants sector, compared to the pre-pandemic. According to INSTAT, in the second quarter 2021, the employment index was 39% lower than in the same period of 2019.
According to INSTAT, there are about 14 thousand bars and about 4 thousand restaurants in the country, making us among the first in the world for the number of bars in relation to the population. This segment has the highest level of self-employment in the country, with about 37% of the total. In the accommodation and food service sector alone there are 18% of employees in small business.
On the whole according to the representative of the Association of Bars and Restaurants currently consumption appears 20-30% less than years. Another reason for the decline in consumption is the pandemic that created a new model for the consumer. “Covid 19 for bars and restaurants for 2021 created a new model of customer behavior, as most of them learned to consume coffee and main meal in offices and homes and consumption for bars and restaurants has dropped significantly. In addition, we have the energy crisis ahead and as a result, customers have shrunk in spending.
Jahaj says that due to the curfew (6:00 to 23:00) there has been an increase in the attendance of restaurants outside Tirana during this holiday period, as the time limit is not felt in areas outside the capital, while some casinos in Tirana are operating se pube.
In May 2020, after the opening of the economy until the end of the summer, the turnover of restaurants and bars managed to recover. In the autumn-winter period, the turnover of these businesses returned to the decline by about 40% compared to 2019, due to the decrease in attendance. The decline in turnover in the beverage and food service businesses continued in the first months of 2021 due to the decline in consumption and restricted movement hours. In the summer months the turnover of bars and restaurants managed to recover, due to the tourist season and the arrival of tourists./Monitor
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