Restaurants are seeing a 25% boom in business since 2020, even crossing pre-Covid levels, attributed to an increase in the number of people opting to dine-in or take-out in the absence of restrictions since the pandemic subsided.
Ganesh Shetty, president, Pune Restaurant and Hoteliers’ Association (PRAHA), said, “Due to Christmas and New Year, we will see a 30% increase in business. Overall, we have compensated for our losses from 2020 and 2021 as business increased a total 25%.” Shetty said that dine-in footfalls have increased from 1 lakh last year to 12.5 lakhs this year and that liquor sales, especially wine and beer, have increased 30% this year as compared to the last two years.
Manav Singh, a student at the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, made a case for dine-ins saying, “The whole Christmas and New Year period can be the reason for people to go out. Also, the pandemic is not much in the discussion although there are cases of a new strain from China. After the whole Covid episode, I usually prefer individual restaurants in Pune rather than going to food courts in malls due to their proximity.”
Whereas take-outs have seen a 20 to 30% increase compared to the last few years, hinting at the possibility of citizens having become busier and preferring to eat within the comfort of their homes. Helen Rachel Reji, a student at the Symbiosis School of Economics, spoke in favour of take-outs. “Staying at a hostel, it is hard work to cook a lot of dishes on Christmas. Also, cooking dishes on a holiday is more fun if you have a lot of people around. It spreads joy that way. Otherwise, by the time you finish cooking, you would be too tired to enjoy the rest of the night,” Reji said.
{{/usCountry}}Whereas take-outs have seen a 20 to 30% increase compared to the last few years, hinting at the possibility of citizens having become busier and preferring to eat within the comfort of their homes. Helen Rachel Reji, a student at the Symbiosis School of Economics, spoke in favour of take-outs. “Staying at a hostel, it is hard work to cook a lot of dishes on Christmas. Also, cooking dishes on a holiday is more fun if you have a lot of people around. It spreads joy that way. Otherwise, by the time you finish cooking, you would be too tired to enjoy the rest of the night,” Reji said.
{{/usCountry}}Rajesh Shetty, secretary, PRAHA, said, “Let’s say that business operating at its maximum level is 100%. From January to February, we witnessed the third wave. As a result, our business was operating at around 30%. February and March were off season, so our business operated in the same way. From April onwards, we were operating at 60%. This number stagnated during June and July because of the monsoon season. But business remained that way even during August and September or the festive months since it was raining. Business once again picked up from the first week of November and now, it has reached pre-Covid levels.”
About the other trends seen this year, Rajesh Shetty said that hotel occupancies have seen a 20% increase since 2019 and that lodgings have become more popular then pre-Covid levels, possibly due to the affordability of overnight stays. He said that people are beginning to show a unique preference for street food at temporary outlets and food trucks after the pandemic subsided which has led to the disappearance of breakfast slots at licensed establishments.