Bulgarian accommodation facilities expecting to close down decrease in Oct - survey
The percentage of managers of accommodation facilities in Bulgaria expecting to close their business in the short term due to the coronavirus crisis fell on a monthly comparison basis in October, the national statistical office NSI said on Tuesday.
Some 3.1% of the managers of accommodation facilities in Bulgaria expect to discontinue their business activity in a month's time, the NSI said in a statement, citing the results of a monthly survey it conducted during November 5-23 among more than 2,000 managers of hotels, campsites, holiday villages and other accommodation establishments.
Last month, 4.2% of accommodation facility managers said that they expect to shut down their business in the short term, the same percentage as in August and July.
The results of the latest survey also show that almost half of the accommodation facilities, 49.5%, plan to maintain their operations within the next month, albeit at a lower capacity.
The share of accommodation facilities that plan to continue to operate as usual fell to 29.7% in October, compared to 34.6% in September. As many as 16.8% of the respondents intend to temporarily halt their operations, down from 24.6% a month earlier.
Nearly 60% of accommodation facilities saw a decline in their operating revenues on a monthly comparison basis in October, while 33.8% reported no change. According to the NSI's previous poll, 53.2% of the managers booked lower operating revenues in September.
The majority of the managers, 48.3%, expect that they will be able to service up to 50% of their operating expenses with own funds in the following month, while 26.2% say they will be unable to service any expenses with own funds. As many as 25.5% say they will be able to service all of their operating expenses in a month's time.
According to the NSI's most recent survey, there is an increase in the number of accommodation facilities which chosen to put employees on paid or unpaid leave in October, in order to cope with the crisis. At the same time, as many as 27.7% of the accommodation facilities benefited from the government's wage support measures in October, up from 24.4% in the previous month.