Cafés and shops are being closed and hotels are being put up for sale on Pilies Street, Vilnius’ attractive pedestrian street in the Old Town. Is it possible that visitors to this once bustling thoroughfare of this year’s European Capital of Culture will see only signs saying For Sale or For Rent instead of menus and shop names? Egle Dilkiene, managing director of the Lithuanian Hotel and Restaurant Association, says that people should not be surprised by the number of bankrupt restaurants and cafés in prestigious places. "It is the outcome of the crisis. Cafés and restaurants are suffering difficult times. Last December, compared to the end of 2007, restaurant turnovers went down by 50 percent on average and hotels were half-empty. Employees are being fired. Restaurants and hotels are forced either to suspend their activities until the summer season or go out of business," she said.

 

Lietuvos Rytas, 2009-01-17