Entrepreneur Dragos Anastasiu, CEO of Eurolines Romania, states that the HoReCa industry, one of the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, can be supported by the state through the introduction of zero taxes at the minimum wage level and proposes a pilot project to be applied for 1 year to quantify the budgetary and economic effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anastasiu specified that the group recorded a loss of 1 million EUR during the pandemic because absolutely all business lines remaining after he sold the travel agencies were restricted; everything involving transport\u2014from taxis to rent-a-car and coaches\u2014including the Green Village and Valea Verde resorts, all faced restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the tourism sector, losses were up to 80% compared to the reference year 2019, which will remain the benchmark for the coming years. Overall, however, what we believe we can say today with some degree of accuracy is that about 50,000 jobs were lost, and it will be very difficult to recover them even if we have work now; currently, we have work but no one to do it because people have reoriented themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that the Tourism Alliance suffered significant losses and received too little help from the state, in the sense that it came either hesitantly, not at all, or late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Still, no, we have the measure, the so-called 20% difference in turnover 2019-2020, a measure that refers only to the year 2020, and we are in September 2021 and the money hasn’t arrived. And we hope it comes by the end of the year, at least part of it. So the industry is massively affected, relatively little aid; the big players certainly managed better than the small ones who were undercapitalized anyway. Overall, I think we managed well because, probably having this formula of relatively poor companies with relatively rich owners, there were resources not on the company side, but on the ownership side, and so money was brought from home and many businesses were kept on a low flame but managed to survive. But there are businesses that died, without a doubt,” Anastasiu stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Could the state do something more now, should it do more, or should it simply let the market recover on its own?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To the question of what else the state could do to help the hospitality sector, he specified that there is the measure being discussed\u2014zero taxes at the minimum wage level, a HoReCa pilot project\u2014Anastasiu believes this regulation would be a useful compensation for this sector and would provide oxygen to keep people in the country and conduct quality tourism, especially for foreigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anastasiu considers that “work from anywhere” is the future. “People will no longer work except in a hybrid manner; they will go to the office if they want, or if someone lets them go, at least half the time, 50% of the time. Socialization is also needed\u2014many who stayed home want to come to the office, and it’s normal for it to be so\u2014but I believe it will be hybrid and it will be hybrid from anywhere.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To the question of whether the pandemic has changed our way of traveling, of doing tourism, and what things are here to stay, Anastasiu replied that “now, in the short term, it has certainly changed, that’s without a doubt. More extensive, more draconian hygiene measures and so on. So, from this point of view, things have certainly changed. What will remain? Now, my feeling is that the world will quickly return to previous customs. That is the feeling; I don’t think so many things will change sustainably. But work from anywhere I think will remain, digitalization\u2014well, the pandemic didn’t teach us digitalization, but it accelerated our digitalization. These will remain\u2014check-in, entering with a fingerprint on the door, all these crazy things, artificial intelligence.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n