Restaurant business counts cost of frequent strikes

Restaurant business in the country has been badly affected by frequent political shutdowns arising out of the standoff between the two major political parties ahead of the next general election.
Although restaurants were always outside the purview of any general strike, the number of customers fell by 90 per cent during the strike hours, which was forcing many restaurant owners to wind up their business, sources said.
"We are seriously affected by the countrywide shutdown. Now the restaurant business is passing a hard time," Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association (BROA) Secretary General Rezaul Karim Sarker Robin told the FE.
He also said they were not in a good position as their business was dull due to the successive political shutdowns.
Mr Robin, also managing director of Saikot Hotel and Restaurant in Bogra, said the restaurant owners were among the worst sufferers because of the political agitations. Many of the restaurants were even closed due to the small volume of sales.
"I spend more than Tk 3,000 per day on paying wages of the staff and bearing other costs. So it is difficult to recoup even the initial costs in such a situation," he added.
During a visit to the city's Mirpur, Farmgate, Kawran Bazar, Paltan and Motijheel, it was found that at most of the restaurants the presence of customers was very thin.
It was also found that all the members of staff were there at every restaurant, they were passing time in a holiday mood due to the thin presence of customers.
Anowar Hossain Mirdha, vice president of the BROA, told the FE that during any hartal day their sales fall drastically and large quantities of their food items remain unsold.
He also said in the recent time his income fell by more than 80 per cent due to the countrywide restive politics.
Mr Mirdha, also managing director of Purnima Restaurant at Gulshan in the city, said he incurred heavy losses because of the frequent countrywide shutdowns. His restaurant has two branches all selling local foods.
There are about 50,000 restaurants, including 5,000 in Dhaka.
Shoriful Islam Sohel, managing director of Express Restaurant at Motijheel, said sales at his restaurant fall by two-thirds on a hartal day to Tk 25,000 from Tk 75,000.
Boshirul Amin, who runs the Malaika Khabar at Motijheel, said during the hartal days they even lose their capital. "It has become more and more difficult for us to recover the losses as the strikes have become very frequent," he added.
According to the Bangladesh Economic Review-2013, the hotel and restaurant business contributed 0.74 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) in the fiscal year 2011-12.
The BROA data shows the sector which created jobs for thousands across the country grew 7.6 per cent in last year against 7.55 per cent growth recorded the year before.
Experts predicted that the growth of the sector, considered one of the biggest service sectors, would drastically decline in the current year because of the restive politics.