WILLEMSTAD - On November 30, the government announced that the Prohibition Act would come into effect on December 1, 2020 as a precautionary measure for Covid-19. However, this does not apply to people who spend the night in a hotel.
In other words, hotels or catering establishments located on the premises of a hotel may continue to sell alcohol (until a certain time) to registered guests of that hotel.
The proposal to introduce the Prohibition Act is to prevent gatherings and parties, which can lead to serious spread of the Corona virus. This law must also promote the effectiveness of other measures that the government has also taken. Nevertheless, this measure applies specifically to the catering industry and not to supermarkets and toko's that are aimed at selling alcohol for domestic use. Since a hotel guest uses his hotel room as temporary accommodation, the sale of alcohol in these types of establishments can also be considered and categorized as domestic use.
Implementation and supervision of compliance with hygiene and social distance instructions remain the responsibility of the hotel, based on concrete consultation between the government and various interest groups, for example CHATA and specifically the hotel sector. The government will also continue to monitor the situation and will evaluate its effectiveness in mid-December along with the other measures taken.