Styrian restaurateurs

Smoking ban outdoors? “Absolute nonsense”

Smoking in the restaurant garden could soon be history (symbolic image).

(Bild: AFP)

The EU Commission has issued a new recommendation on how it wants to reduce smoking rates in the member states. Styrian restaurateurs are alarmed that this could lead to a ban on smoking in outdoor catering areas: "For some businesses, this would be ruin," says Klaus Josef Friedl, chairman of the Styrian restaurant sector.

A recommendation from the EU Commission is currently causing displeasure among restaurateurs: in order to reduce the proportion of smokers to below five percent, cigarettes are to be banned from outdoor public places. The aim is to establish a "smoke-free generation" in the EU by 2040. Smoking in restaurants is also to be banned. "Absolute nonsense", says Christian Kollmann from Burg-Restaurant Deutschlandsberg, "where are guests supposed to smoke then?"

He is speaking in the general tenor of Styrian innkeepers. Klaus Josef Friedl, head of the Styrian Chamber of Commerce, explains that the gastronomy sector has already been hit hard by the indoor smoking ban. First they switched to separate rooms inside, then came a general ban. Suitable outdoor areas for smokers were then created with heating sponges and smoking corners.

Landlord Christian Kollmann

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian)

Branch chairman Klaus Josef Friedl

(Bild: Barbara Majcan)

Restaurateur Herti Grossauer-Widakovich

(Bild: Pail Sepp)

I wonder if there were differences between guests in this regard? The EU wants to protect children and passive smokers in particular. "It's not an issue for us at all," says Herti Grossauer-Widakovich (Schlossberg Restaurant, El Gaucho, El Pescador etc.). "I can't take something like that seriously. They just throw something into the room that can't be implemented." She is convinced that guests will not stop smoking anyway.

Fear of major losses in turnover
"For some businesses, that would be ruin," says Friedl. Outdoor cafés would lose their appeal and traditional restaurants could close. He expects a huge loss of sales if the ban actually comes into force. "We feel cheated," he says. "Once again, the hospitality industry is being asked to pay for something like this," adds Grossauer-Widakovich.

The industry representatives see a need to catch up in completely different areas: Politicians should rather reduce non-wage labor costs, says Kollmann. They also question the effectiveness of an outdoor smoking ban. "I think we need other approaches, such as a tax increase on nicotine products, to ensure fewer smokers," says Grossauer-Widakovich. Friedl: "If guests can no longer smoke in the restaurant garden, they will do it on the street next to it." Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) wants to comment on this after internal discussions on Thursday.