Some restaurants and bars are starting to book holiday parties, both corporate and personal, but it remains to be seen whether bookings will return to pre-pandemic levels
, he said. There are also fears that the winter could bring a wave of cancellations, after last year’s holiday season saw COVID-19 cases skyrocket, and many establishments chose to close their doors for New Year’s Eve.
While it’s too soon to tell whether bookings will be back to normal, there are certainly more inquiries than last year, she said.Rilett said there’s a lot of hope being pinned on the holiday season again this year, but with a dash of caution after the past two winters. According to Restaurants Canada, in August Canadian consumers started to tighten their purse strings amid high inflation, as fewer Canadians purchased meals from restaurants despite the fact that August is normally a busy month for industry.
Restaurants are still dealing with elevated levels of debt from the pandemic, plus higher input costs and difficulties hiring, said Rilett.Fewer new food service businesses are opening even as more close, said Rilett, meaning the number of restaurants overall has gone down in the past year.