Romania’s hospitality sector has been among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic with tens of thousands of jobs in the line.
The Transylvanian city of Brasov, a popular tourist destination, has come up a smart solution to woo customers back into restaurants and bars which have been shut or had their businesses severely curtailed in the past few months.
Sixteen restaurants in the medieval city in central Romania have teamed up to offer a 10% discount to clients who have had the new vaccine, which was rolled out on Monday.
The Association for Brasov Historical Center Traders and Brasov Smart City were behind the idea.
Razvan Cherches, a public health expert called it “an excellent idea. Other cities should follow suit.”
The sixteen establishments will have posters at the entrance promoting the initiative together with public health department information about the virus.
Romania added 104 Covid-19 related deaths in the past day. There were just 2,620 new cases, much lower that recent days, but only 8,000 tests were carried out.
Industry bosses say 100,000 jobs, about half the hospitality sector employees are at risk according to most pessimistic estimates made in November by Dragos Anastasiu, spokesman for the Tourism Alliance and Călin Ilie, chairman of the Federation of Hotel Industry.
Restaurants were closed or partially closed for five months at the start of the pandemic and re-opened in September, only to see another shutdown as cases surged in recent months. Restaurants can currently serve takeaways or where it’s possible, serve customers at outdoor tables.
“We are supporting the vaccination campaign because we’re convinced that only if a large number of people are inoculated can we get back to normal and restart the hospitality sector,” said Horia Huluban,chairman of the Brasov association.
The pilot program was rolled out in sixteen esteries in Brasov, a medieval city in the Carpathian mountains, and one of the most visited places in Romania.
The launch of the discount food and drink was timed to coincide with the vaccine rollout and to support the city’s health department and the city hall, according to a press release.
It will run for an initial two-month period, ending in February.
Universul.net has obtained a list of the places taking part to help tourists and visitors to the charming city.
- Pizza Roma
- GoGreek
- Keller Steakhouse
- Restaurant Mediterra
- Restaurant DaVinci
- Gustări
- Aftăr Stube
- Ristorante Italian DOC
- La Ceaun – Piata Sfatului
- La Ceaun – Michael Weiss
- Ograda
- The Drake Pub
- Ursul Carpatin
- La Cave Bistro
- Impresso Bar
- Cucinino Pasta & Pizza
