Romanian employers in the tourism industry threaten to sue the Government for "undermining the national economy" if it does not allow the reopening of the hotels' restaurants on June 15, Profit.ro reported.

President Klaus Iohannis, outlining the relaxation measures envisaged for June 15, has not mentioned the restaurants among them.

On the contrary, he said that restaurants in shopping malls would remain closed. This could mean that the authorities plan to keep all indoor restaurants closed.

Employers in tourism claimed in mid-May that they reached an agreement with the Government over "opening the hotels on June 15" - although the hotels were never formally closed as an effect of authorities' restrictions.

Now, the employers speak of opening the restaurants in hotels. Starting June 15, local hotels could welcome more than 500,000 local tourists. However, they can't serve meals to tourists under existing restrictions. Even a two-week delay in opening hotel restaurants puts Romania at a competitive disadvantage compared to other countries in the area, which have already lifted these restrictions.

Such delay would bankrupt more than two-thirds of the country's hotels, according to the Federation of Romanian Tourism Employers (FPTR). The head of the Government's communication team, Ionel Danca, said the decision to keep indoor restaurants closed after June 15 is aimed at protecting people's health.

"If I were in their situation, I wouldn't want to risk my reputation by opening an indoor restaurant and having an infection case there," Danca said, quoted by Digi24. He added that companies in the hospitality sector have benefited from many support measures from the Government to move past the difficult situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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editor@romania-insider.com