The Mainz restaurateurs are not expecting great sales from the "great days" this year.
In Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf, however, it should be different.
Because on the carnival weekend in the inner cities, special "customs zones" are set up so that the revelers can celebrate at least a little bit, despite the Omicron variant, but under 2-G-plus conditions.
Markus Schug
Correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.
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The city of Mainz, on the other hand, has not planned to offer the fools in the city fenced open spaces with strict access controls.
And the Mainz Carneval Association of 1838, which is responsible for the street carnival and had long considered this "Great Days" model, was urgently advised at the end of January not to embark on such a foolish project in view of the high risk of infection.
In any case, Mainz is currently missing the “carnival atmosphere,” said Ata Delbasteh, who runs a few popular bars himself, in a press conference on Tuesday, which was part of a German initiative.
With a view to the federal-state meeting planned for the following day, hoteliers and restaurateurs in Berlin and many other German cities spoke up again to report on “their current situation” after two years of the pandemic – and one from politics again to demand a future for gastronomy.
Don't get your hopes too high
In any case, it shouldn’t be the case again that people from Mainz switched to eating and drinking on the other side of the Rhine because the corona regulations in Hesse were less strict than in Rhineland-Palatinate, complained those on the left and in this case “wrong” side the river's resident restaurateurs.
Whatever is decided at the next meeting of the prime ministers, ideally it should be simplifications, should apply nationwide and apply to everyone.
For the weeks leading up to Easter, however, one does not have high hopes, according to Delbasteh, who, together with Hyatt director Malte Budde and Markus Hoffmann as representatives of Enchilada Franchise GmbH, spoke in the "wash house" of the Mainz cultural center about the consequences of the months-long "quasi lockdown". expressed.
As entrepreneurs who are grateful for the short-time work allowance and the bridging aid granted by the state, they don't want gifts, but the chance to free themselves from the misery with their own strength and creativity.
In this way, one hopes to be able to pay off the debts that many colleagues had accumulated out of necessity during the ongoing Corona crisis over the next few years.
However, one of the central demands of the industry day of action organized by the Leaders Club Germany is a permanent reduction in VAT for the catering trade.
Just like Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) promised during the election campaign.
And in a city that has meanwhile become rich like Mainz – which can look forward to additional income from the vaccine manufacturer Biontech, based in An der Goldgrube – it would be worth considering excluding the trade tax for two years from companies that are particularly hard hit, especially in the event industry enacted
Landlords have special requests for the city
In addition to the hope that after Easter and throughout the summer it will be much more relaxed again, the restaurateurs have a few extra wishes for the city: The required open spaces for additional outdoor gastronomy should be approved unbureaucratically.
An image campaign and voucher campaigns are certainly not wrong to bring lost customers back to the city center, which is kept alive above all by the many restaurants, pubs and wine bars.
Anyone could easily see that for themselves during the crisis.
The Mainz innkeepers did not want to make a forecast as to whether “2 G, 2 G plus, 3 G or even 4 G xy” would apply to interiors in the future.
In Berlin, on the other hand, the television chef Tim Mälzer, who was involved via video link, made it clear that the time was ripe to finally hand responsibility back to the operators.
He himself now considers 3 G to be superfluous.
Gastronomy and retail were not drivers of the pandemic.