Revenues Increasing In Hospitality Sector, But Still Far Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

Data from the last quarter from Storyous shows a significant increase in revenue in the Czech hospitality sector. South Moravia and Olomouc are the Czech regions with the best improvement in the average restaurant income, even better than the same period in 2019. Credit: Storyous.

Czech Rep, Oct 21 (BD) – The third quarter has seen an increase of 73% in revenues in the restaurant and hotel sector compared to the previous quarter, and 278% compared to the first quarter of this year.

However, compared to the period before the Covid-19 pandemic, there is still a shortfall of 10%. “Compared to 2019, there is an average decrease in attendance of 10%. Of course, it varies regionally. In some regions, the number of guests is almost 15 percent fewer,” said Igor Třeslín, CEO of Storyous.

The data from Storyous, a financial service company for the hospitality sector, shows that South Moravia and Olomouc are the best performing regions in the Czech Republic, with an increase of 10% and 13% respectively from 2019. Other regions with positive figures are Hradec Králové, South Bohemia and Central Bohemia.

Regions% change in restaurant attendance in Q3 2021 compared to Q3 2019
Hlavní město Praha-14.94
Jihomoravský kraj+10.59
Středočeský kraj+5.46
Moravskoslezský kraj-0.72
Královéhradecký kraj+7.48
Plzeňský kraj-9.73
Ústecký kraj-4.03
Jihočeský kraj+6.53
Olomoucký kraj+13.87
Liberecký kraj-2.22
Pardubický kraj-12.16
Zlínský kraj-5.21
Kraj Vysočina-14.80
Change in restaurant attendance in July-September 2021 compared to 2019. Source: Storyous.

The worst situation is recorded in Prague, where Storyous recorded a drop of more than 15% in the number of customers.

“People haven’t returned to restaurants. At least not to the extent that they came before the coronavirus pandemic. Summer, along with the pre-Christmas period, is traditionally the strongest time of year for restaurateurs. Our data shows that summer figures this year are the highest, but there is not much to compare with when companies have been closed for several months due to government measures, or working only from a distribution window,” said Třeslín.

Despite the significant growth, the average revenue per company only increased by 3.6% compared to 2020, despite customers consuming 9% more than last year. The reason is related to the fear of the virus (despite the openings, people tend to avoid places such as restaurants) and working from home is a disincentive to go to restaurants because it is easier to eat at home. Moreover the general increase in prices is another reason that explains the different data.

“Restaurants have suffered heavy financial losses as they have been constrained by government conditions for an extremely long time, which has been fatal to gastronomy. Operators are now trying to secure their existence and restore profits, which are seeing a gradual increase. The price of raw materials and services from suppliers is also rising, which is clearly reflected in the overall increase in prices within the market,” Třeslín added.

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