The expanded vaccination drive against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and the “itch” to socialize with others after more than a year of movement restrictions are among the factors why restaurant businesses in this city and the nearby town have started to pick up.
Since October this year, more people go out and dine instead of relying on food delivery services for their favorite food, Joel Uyvico, chief operating officer of Join Us Food and Development, Inc, the operator of Acacia Restaurant and Acacia Coffee Shop, said in an interview on Tuesday.
“With more people now vaccinated, they want to go out and dine with their friends. While food delivery service is a trend now, people still want a place to converse and experience a mini-reunion after lockdowns. This is very helpful to revive the local economy,” said Uyvico, whose restaurant caters to about 200 diners daily.
He noted that when the government started administering Covid-19 jabs to the general public, it raised the confidence of dine-in restaurants.
The Acacia restaurant and coffee shop are located at the city’s new commercial complex — the City Center Park in Sagkahan district.
Hotel XYZ restaurants manager Jerick Florano thanked the government for ramping up the vaccination drive since it helped revive the local economy.
“Starting last week of September, more people come to our place and dine. The vaccination has raised the confidence of people to go out and spend their money. They are confident to interact with our staff since they are aware that our personnel are fully-vaccinated,” Florano said in a phone interview.
The Hotel XYZ located in the city’s downtown area, has three restaurants — Q Kitchen, Fyzz Gastropub, and ABCD Café. Since October, at least 50 percent of the restaurants’ capacity are filled with diners during mealtime, up than the 25 percent occupancy recorded before the vaccination rollout.
“This pandemic, people want a different place to eat and bond with their family and friends. Also, the spending capacity of our diners has slightly increased since they’re able to save money for several months due to movement restrictions,” Florano added.
In the nearby town of Palo, the Oriental Hotel’s Samsara Restaurant has been attracting more diners after the government expanded the Covid-19 vaccination coverage, according to hotel manager Anito Lanticse.
“The vaccination rollout has a very positive impact to the hotel and restaurant industry. I appreciate government’s effort to step up the campaign even in provinces. We are now very dependent on the local market since there are only few travelers from Manila and Cebu,” Lanticse said in a phone interview.
The 178-seater indoor restaurant that offers Asia’s most loved dishes, has been operating at 50 percent capacity.
With the restaurant owners feeling upbeat with the recovery of their businesses, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Eastern Visayas regional director Celerina Bato reminded them to still be wary of Covid-19.
“Still we have to balance the economy and health. It doesn’t mean that when we open the economy, we have to forget the health protocols. For us to fully recover, we need to open the economy, but at the same time, still observe and follow the minimum health protocols…we just have to live with the virus. We have to observe the onsite capacities set forth for the alert level where we belong,” she said.
Since the start of the regular vaccination rollout on March 5, 2021, health workers have administered vaccines to 2.19 million residents in Eastern Visayas out of the 3.36 million target population as of Dec. 3, 2021. About 37.5 percent of the target are fully vaccinated while 65.2 percent have received the first dose.
Source: Philippines News Agency
