Decline in Chinese tourists hitting some restaurants hard
Hospitality businesses in some suburbs of Melbourne popular with Chinese tourists has seen a massive drop off in customers following the travel bans associated with the coronavirus outbreak.
Restaurants in Box Hill say they are suffering as diners stay away, particularly after a man confirmed as having the coronavirus dined at the nearby House of Delight restaurant.
Sea urchin restaurant Uni Boom Boom has gone so far as to shut down its dining in option in preference for operating a takeaway only service.
“Due to the current climate of outbreak we at Uni Boom Boom would like to instill the greatest steps and prevention measures for our beloved staff, customers and fans. In viewing the safety of all our fans we at Uni Boom Boom will stop accepting dine in diners,” the restaurant said in a Facebook post.
Speaking to radio station 3AW, Restaurant and Catering Association CEO Wes Lambert said the decline in patronage stems from the ban on tourists from China.
“We’re not hearing anything about domestic fear related to customers,” he told 3AW’s Ross and John.
“Most of the restaurants that we see and we’re speaking to that are actually being affected are being affected by the inbound tourism from China directly.
“They’re used to dealing directly with tour operators that line up dining weeks and months in advance.
“Chinese tourism is worth a billion dollars a month to Australia, of which about $280 million would be to restaurants, cafes and caterers, which is a huge amount related to the total spend in Australia in food and beverage.”
Sheridan Randall, 6th February 2020
