The industry had been growing exponentially and had emerged as a key driver of growth among services industry of India and contributed to more than 7 per cent of the GDP. (Representational)

After the SOPs regarding functioning of restaurants and food outlets, released on Friday, provided no help to the hospitality industry, many hoteliers, restaurants and night clubs are wary of their businesses shutting down soon.

The Indian Express called several outlets across the Tricity, all of whom expressed dismay over the current situation of the industry and said, “We think we will have to let more than 50 per cent of our staff go.”

Food, beverages sector

The industry had been growing exponentially and had emerged as a key driver of growth among services industry of India and contributed to more than 7 per cent of the GDP.

While the unorganised sector of the food and beverages category remained functional even amid lockdown, their profits went down increasingly.

“We used to have more than 500 customers a day and more than 200 online orders before the pandemic began. Since then, the orders have been decreased to double digits on good days. Our business still remained functioning during the lockdown, but I think it is going down furthermore since people have gotten very hygiene conscious,” said the owner of Vaishno Dhaba in Panchkula.

Meanwhile, even though the organised sector of the industry does not expect any growth, they are hopeful that things will come to normal within a few months.

“We had stopped making or selling anything during the lockdown other than dairy products, but are slowly resuming now and so are our customers,” said the owner of a sweet shop in Sector 7, adding, “People look for cleanliness these days and we have ensured all our employees wear masks and gloves and hairnet. It gives our customers some sense of security.”

Night clubs

Chandigarh and Zirakpur hold lines of clubs and discs relayed together, all of which operate from space rented at high costs, which they have been unable to pay for the past few months. The rents of these places range from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 12 lakh. Club owners in Sector 26 have been the most affected and have started to lay off employees.

“We used to get a crowd of more than 500 each day earlier. Now, even if we get five, we will be lucky. People used to party in Chandigarh and only then reach Zirakpur but with a time curfew of 8 pm, how do they expect us to function?” asked Amit Agarwal, owner of Hop Highway at Zirakpur.

“We will have to cut off our profits, extend happy hours to all day and we will still be lucky to get a few customers. Nobody is spending on these things anymore, moreover people are wary of going out if it is not urgent. We will have to lay off fifty per cent of our staff. Unemployment will rise,” he added.

Almost all these clubs employ more than 50 staffers including bar attendants, bouncers, waiters among others but with no customers, rising bills, and rents to pay, Amit, like many others, has been left with no option but to let most of his staffers go.

Hotel industry

The hotel industry too is facing a major cash crunch and some have not even paid their employees, informed sources. The manager of one of the biggest hotels of Panchkula, on the condition of anonymity said, “Our restaurants are non-functional. The banquets have not been used and will not be used for quite sometime. Nobody is travelling and our rooms are lying vacant. We hardly get any customers in any of the various services we offer. With the government insisting on a no-AC policy, who will want to come to big hotels?” he asked, adding, “Companies have not even been able to pay their employees. We are all scared for our jobs. Layoffs are inevitable.”