HOTEL TRADE

Evening Star, Issue 23687, 21 September 1940, Page 20

HOTEL TRADE

BAROMETER FALLING HEAVY WEATHER AHEAD Trade in hotel bars is generally accepted as a good barometer of spending power in Dunedin.' For a year or two pressure of business was “ set fair ” so fair, in fact, that proprietors were congratulating themselves upon conditions. But “ change ” from a “ wet” to a comparatively “ dry ” period has been recorded, and trade, if not altogether indicative of depression, has steadily assumed a downward trend upon the graph. Rough going, mainly because of depressing “ overhead ” conditions, is confidently predicted in almost all quarters, one of the reasons being that the majority of hotels have endeavoured —assisted by the rising tide of profits —to present a new facade to the sun. For this reason the outlook is rather gloomy, with stormy weather expected if conditions do not improve. It is probable that ! an enforced drought of any greater extent than at present would prove almost disastrous, for although travelling conditions would be excellent, there is insufficient “ gas ” available to permit patrons to travel as freely as before, which affects accommodation figures, and influences the forecast of conditions to such an extent that they appear positively threatening 1 But, looking for the silver lining even in the blackest of clouds, hotel proprietors in the main prefer to believe that the period in the doldrums at present being experienced will pass, without a whirlwind arriving to precipitate their establishments over the brink of solvency through excessive “ overhead ” eclipsing income.