Categories
· Smokefree Policies
· costs/finances
· Dining/Entertainment
non-USA, by Country
· Hong Kong
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Jump to full article: China Daily (cn), 2009-07-17
Author: Colleen Lee (HK Edition)
Intro: HONG KONG: Owners of some entertainment venues are howling, saying business at their establishments has plummeted in the past two weeks because of the smoking ban.
Full enforcement of the ban on smoking in public areas came into effect on July 1, meaning people now have to butt out, at bars, nightclubs, bathhouses, massage establishments and mahjong/tin kau parlors. No one is allowed to smoke in public venues of any description, since universal enforcement of the law. Owners claim customer turnout just isn't the same as it was before the ban went into effect.
Chin Chun-wing, vice chairman of the Hong Kong Bar and Club Association, which represents about 200 bars in the city, estimated that the number of customers turning up has plunged 40 to 50 per cent over early July last year.
"The business on the past weekend was terrible. I saw many empty seats when I toured around bars in Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay on Saturday night. They used to be packed with people," he said.
Chin said the decline in business probably traces to the smoking ban. "Some smokers would gather and drink with friends at home rather than going out as they fear to be caught lighting up in pubs by law enforcers," he said.
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