Criticism of plans

Restaurateurs fight back against smoking ban

Soon no longer possible? Smoking in the pub garden.

(Bild: APA/Helmut Fohringer)

Will smoking soon be banned in pub gardens? Vorarlberg restaurateurs are taking to the barricades, they want to prevent a ban at all costs. 

If the European Commission has its way, a Europe-wide recommendation for a smoking ban in outdoor areas of catering establishments could soon be issued. However, some people - not just smokers - do not like this at all: "We assume that there will be a clear political commitment here in Vorarlberg not to introduce any additional regulations for the catering industry," explain Mike Pansi and Stefan Köb from the Gastronomy Section of the Vorarlberg Chamber of Commerce (WKV), who are critical of further bureaucracy.

Perceived as an excessive measure
They emphasize that such measures are detrimental to the industry, especially in economically challenging times, and could lead to guests moving to private areas or clubhouses. The measure could also lead to a displacement effect, with guests being forced to move to public areas outside the establishments, for example. Pansi and Köb see an extension of the smoking ban from indoor to outdoor areas as excessive - and as a further burden on the restaurant scene after Corona and Co. Both fear that the ban could drive businesses in rural areas in particular to ruin and thus destroy more than it protects.