Due to the ban on smoking in public places, one in eight hospitality establishments in Slovenia is on the brink of collapse. This was warned by the Slovenian Association of Hospitality Service Providers, which announced that it will allow its guests to light cigarettes.
In a statement to the daily newspaper Delo, the representative of the association, Esmeralda Canjuge Vidmar, said that restaurateurs decided on civil disobedience because the ‘anti-smoking’ law has led to a significant drop in revenue in cafes and inns. According to estimates made on a sample of 1,000 establishments, at least a third, and possibly half, are on the verge of closing. The most vulnerable are hospitality establishments smaller than 100 square meters, as their owners do not have enough money to install legally mandated smoking rooms in their premises.
Such a designated smoking area costs between 10,000 and 17,000 euros. Slovenian restaurateurs claim they have exhausted all legal options to change the law and prevent it from causing such significant economic damage. Therefore, they say they will allow guests to smoke a cigarette in the establishment to symbolically show their stance. Slovenian restaurateurs will agree on who will participate in the action in about ten days.
Slovenian restaurateurs are trying to convince their lawmakers that there are much better smoking laws in their neighboring countries than the Slovenian model. For example, the Austrian law stipulates that the owner of an establishment smaller than 75 square meters can independently decide whether to allow smoking or not. Owners of establishments larger than 75 square meters, on the other hand, must reserve 50 percent of their space for non-smokers. (Tatjana Vukić)
