Second Covid-19 wave: Mumbai restaurants, malls, hotels feel the pinch

Return of restrictions pushes business down 50% and more

Mumbai's out-of-home market — malls, restaurants, hotels and shopping centres — wears a gloomy look these days. It isn't the heat that is taking its toll. It’s the restrictions recently announced by the Maharashtra government to check the spread of Covid-19 in the city.

Mall owners say visits are down by at least 50 per cent in two weeks. And restaurant business has plunged by 70 per cent with dinner services hit hard because of night curfew (8 pm to 7 am) since March 28.

"It is better to shut completely than have a night curfew," says Riyaaz Amlani, CEO and managing director, Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality. "Dinner is big for restaurants. And in a city like Mumbai, the first dinner shift does not start before 8-8.30 pm. With a night curfew at 8 pm, we miss out on dinner services altogether."

Night curfew will remain in place till April 15, while random rapid antigen testing at malls and other crowded places such as railway stations and bus stops will continue for some time.

All these measures are dampening consumer sentiment, says Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI). "Formal retail spaces such as malls and shopping centres have the ability to adhere to hygiene standards and can ensure social distancing. Putting restrictions here is a setback for retailers," he says.

Restaurants and eateries, along with multiplexes, opened their doors to guests in Mumbai only from October 2020 with 50 per cent seating. While the October-December period was spent largely in adjusting to the new normal, business began picking up January onwards as Covid cases started easing in the city.

Malls had started seeing a good recovery rate in terms of sales in the festive quarter. This gathered pace in January and February, with the recovery rate touching 85 per cent. Mall visits, too, were back to about 60 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

"These new Covid-19 restrictions have come just when the retail industry was recovering from a slump. I hope no further curbs are announced after April 15," says Mukesh Kumar, CEO, Infiniti Malls.

Like last year, at least 30 per cent of restaurants this year may not be able to resume operations with restrictions increasing due to the second Covid-19 wave, adds Anurag Katriar, president, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI). “Most restaurants and eateries are geared for dine-in operations. Deliveries cannot substitute for those."

On April 1, representatives from RAI, NRAI, Shopping Centres’ Association of India and the Multiplex Association of India came together to petition the Maharashtra government to reduce the out-of-home restrictions in Mumbai, a key consumption centre.

Earlier, the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) had asked the Maharashtra government to consider lifting the night curfew. “There is no significant business for restaurants during the day due to work-from-home arrangements,” says Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, vice president, FHRAI. 

“A night curfew is tantamount to shutting the business down.”