A photo of Italian-Style Tourist Area

With discounts on offer for customers and in particular medical workers, Tianjin’s Italian-Style Tourist Area, home to Italian-style buildings constructed in the early 20th century, saw business begin to recover during the International Labor Day holiday.

The Venezia Club Italian Restaurant and Winery in the area saw daily numbers of diners growing to between 150 and 200 thanks to holiday tourism, five times the figure seen in April, said Yang Yue, general manager of the Italian restaurant, which is run by 71-year-old Italian Renato Pegoraro and his son.

To attract clients, the restaurant offered a 10 percent discount on all dishes for customers during the five-day holiday, with special discounts on offer for medical workers.

In fact, discounts were universal across the area’s dining industry.

They received support from the local government. According to a local policy offering rent exemptions to certain small and medium-sized enterprises and individual businesses, they are enjoying free rent for three months and a 50 percent discount for another three months.

On the first day of the holiday, the area hosted as many 26,000 visitors, a significant increase on April’s figure.

"Business is much better compared with last month, though it is far from the level of the same period last year," Yang said.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, most restaurants were closed in late January. More than 20 stores and restaurants have reopened as the country worked to resume normality, alongside effective control of the contagion nationwide.

"After reopening, we clean everything every day. I think protecting customers is also protecting my business and my family," said Pegoraro.

All customers need to have their temperature taken, register their personal information, sit a certain distance apart and use serving chopsticks and spoons.