Some bars, restaurants and hotels across Scotland have already lost £200,000 worth of Christmas bookings since health officials effectively banned festive gatherings on Thursday evening, according to industry leaders.
There were calls for financial support from government as the hospitality sector and its supply chain face up to the prospect of a much poorer holiday trade than had been anticipated.
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday reiterated advice first relayed by Public Health Scotland on Thursday suggesting employers should cancel Christmas parties to try to limit the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The first minister said: “My advice would be to consider deferring work Christmas events. If they are small events that you wish to go ahead with, make sure you and everybody else in the group is testing beforehand.”
Andrew McRae, the Scotland policy chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Local restaurants and pubs will bear the brunt of the damage from the message that people should cancel Christmas parties. But there will be a knock-on impact on operators like hairdressers and local shops as people in Scotland think twice before heading out.”
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Liz Cameron, the chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, warned the events and hospitality sectors were seeing a surge of last-minute cancellations. She said: “Financial compensation to mitigate the fallout from this intervention must be made available immediately to businesses.”
The Night Time Industries Association said it had heard from firms which have lost more than £200,000 worth of bookings since 5pm on Thursday.
Gavin Stevenson, the vice-chairman of NTIA Scotland, warned it would be impossible for many outlets to survive until spring following the “avalanche” of cancellations.
Stephen Gow, of the Chester Hotel in Aberdeen, described the situation as “catastrophic”. One of the hotel’s party events has gone from more than 260 guests on Thursday to just 18 by yesterday morning.
Gow added: “It’s not the fault of the guests that they’ve had to cancel. But equally it’s not the fault of the hotels, bars and restaurants.”