WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Smoke Free Restaurant Chain May Go Out Of Business in China
As China gears up for the Olympics in Beijing, certain measures have been put into place to help present a more inviting environment for tourists. In addition to a ban on spitting and an effort to encourage queues, there is a move to reduce cigarette smoking in public places.
Last October, the country banned smoking in taxis, and the effort has since spread to hospitals, schools, and government offices—places that have been relatively smoke free in many parts of the U.S. for years.
But the effort to clean the air, particularly in restaurants, has not been met with great success. In fact, one restaurant chain, Meizhou Dongpo, may go out of business because of its smoke free policy—the first of its kind in any food chain in the country.
According to a 1/18/08 report in Reuters.
The Chinese are the world's most enthusiastic smokers, with a growing market of more than 350 million, making it a magnet for cigarette companies and a focus of international health concerns. The occupancy rate at Meizhou Dongpo, a chain serving the spicy fare of southwest Sichuan province, had dropped to "about 80% of that enjoyed by other restaurants across the street" after it banned smoking in October, the China Daily quoted its manager as saying.
Beijing authorities had written to 30,000 restaurants asking them to put smoking bans in place, but not a single one had taken up the suggestion, the paper said.
While the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has promised a smoke free Olympics, natives are clearly not embracing the aggressive tactics to curb this national habit. What will be the fate of this restaurant? Here's an update.
Labels: China, Meizhou Dongpo, Olympics, Restaurants, Safety, Smoking
posted by HeidiTFM at
9:21 AM
2 Comments:
I don't smoke and prefer facilities that don't allow smoking.
HOWEVER, I believe private property owners should be allowed to make that decision without being strong-armed by the government.
Ironic that this has been happening for years in a "free country" like the USA but it's only now taking place in China!
By
Poor Richard, at Wed Feb 06, 11:30:00 AM EST
Point taken, and I can understand why a property owner may prefer to make the decision for his or her business. However, if you read the follow up, you'll see that it isn't always ONLY about the property or business owner: sometimes it's about the employees who work in the environment. It is a symbiotic relationship after all. Happy, healthy employees are better workers across the board.
Now if there are no customers, then the property owner can pull the plug on the concept if it means sink or swim. As it turns out, the business is recovering. This is from the linked follow up story:
"Initially, the policy did have some consequences on the restaurant's bottom line. And soon sales rebounded. We lost some smoking clients and gained non-smoking ones."
Meanwhile, knowing they are the biggest victims of second hand smoke, the waitresses don't hesitate to ask clients to pocket their cigarette packets with due etiquette.
Chen Suqin is the head waitress of this restaurant.
"I rate it a very good measure, as it has blessed us a good work environment."
"There were some cases where those clients turned away upon knowing the ban. In other cases, some clients were quite difficult to handle. Happily, it was always neighboring non-smoking clients that stood up for us."
And, many customers actually enjoy this apparent win-win situation.
"The environment and air quality here are good. That is why we chose this smoke-free restaurant."
"I just stepped in to know it is a smoke-free restaurant. Anytime, if I am offered a choice, I will prefer a smoke-free restaurant to a smoke-filled restaurant."
"I can't agree more with the anti-smoking idea of this restaurant. I don't smoke and hate to take in second-hand smoke as well."
**********************
Having traveled abroad a great deal, I know for a fact that waitresses in pubs are thrilled at the idea of smoke free environments for many reasons in addition improved IAQ and their health. Best of all, they don't go home smelling of smoke after work.
The same can be said for the patrons, for that matter. And if businesses in China are courting customers during the Olympics, they will have to rethink their priorities. Restaurants that allow smoking throughout will suffer when it comes to attracting U.S. customers; I will bet my hat on that.
They can always lift the smoking bans afterwards anyway, and I imagine many of them will--unless the Chinese masses embrace the change. Then there's also the compromise solution— designated non-smoking sections.
For property managers, isn't it better to be smoke free in terms of maintenance anyway? Just a thought.
By
HeidiTFM, at Wed Feb 06, 12:00:00 PM EST
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home