Hotel & Restaurant Sector
Coronavirus round-up: Dalata Hotel Group
Business Post – 07.05.2020
Pat McCann, the chief executive of Dalata Hotel Group, has said he has hopes the struggling sector will be able to reopen at reduced capacity in advance of the government‘s current July 20th date. McCann emphasised the importance of the summer months for hotels while acknowledging the need to ensure the spread of the virus is under control before resuming activity. Dalata has closed 29 of its 44 hotels in Ireland and the UK and temporarily laid off almost seventy per cent of its staff.
Top chef says restaurants cannot survive social distancing rules
The Irish Times - 05.05.2020
Social distancing rules will make it impossible to open most Irish restaurants after Covid-19, according to one of Ireland’s top Michelin-starred chefs. JP McMahon says that with social distancing rules of even 1.5 metres, it would not be viable to open any of his three Galway restaurants, including Michelin-starred Aniar. Mr McMahon also owns the Cava Bodega tapas restaurant and Tartare Café and wine bar. “We cannot open to lose money and get further into debt,” said Mr McMahon. “With two metres social distancing, we are also looking at 75 per cent job losses. I don’t know what to do. “We employ 45 people. Whatever model we employ, we’re looking at least 20 redundancies. That’s best case scenario,” he said, adding that it would involve providing a takeaway service alongside some meals in the restaurants.