Cruise ships return to Seattle, but do they bring returns to downtown restaurants?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

This past week, the first of 83 scheduled cruise voyages to leave Seattle set sail, with Mayor Jenny Durkan celebrating it as part of the city’s reopening.

“So many of our local businesses — who have endured a grueling 16 months — rely on cruise season and the visitors it brings to ensure they can survive and thrive.” Port of Seattle Executive Director Steve Metruck noted in his comments that the industry is responsible for creating 5,500 jobs and bringing “nearly $900 million to our region.”

But for downtown restaurants, the celebration is a cautious one. Creating jobs is less of a concern than finding workers to fill the ones they have, and the arrival of cruise ship tourists adds a new challenge in a year full of them. Accommodating visitors means restaurants need to adjust at a time when everyone is short staffed and taken by surprise with the swiftness that tourism returned. “It was like somebody flipped a switch,” said Ben Skinner, the manager of Salumi Deli. “People are here, people with luggage.”

Brent Berkowitz, the vice president of food and beverage at Palisociety, said, “Cruise ships are a great sign that life is getting back to what we considered to be normal prior to Covid.” But it doesn’t translate directly to a sigh of relief for Hart and the Hunter, the restaurant inside the company’s downtown hotel. The increased tourism is helping them bridge the gap left by lost revenue faster, so the incoming crowds are welcome. But it forces the restaurant to walk a fine line, to meet the needs of tourists without abandoning the local community that kept it afloat. “The balancing act comes in not being too standoffish or intimidating in the wording or the items on the menu,” says Berkowitz, while still giving their chefs creative freedom to appeal to Seattleites and supporting local producers.

https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/food/article/will-cruise-ships-bring-return-seattle-restaurants-16339030.php

[dutch777]

1. Unless downtown office workers return from WFH, and shoppers, seasonal support will not be enough

The happy hour work crowd and the meet ups before the opera, ballet, after shopping, etc. are what carry many restaurants in the non-tourist season. I wouldn't be surprised if restaurants take a year or more to stabilize to a new normal.

[liberalmuse]

2. I'm sure most customer service employees wish they would stay away.

My sister used to work a 2nd job at Starbucks down by where the cruise ships dock and disliked the cruise ship customers because they were so rude and entitled.