Mohammad Abu Al-Huda al-Lahham, the former president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, described the decision as “positive,” while the capital appeared less active after midnight. Opinions varied on the decision, with tour guides and investors in Bab Touma warning of a “negative impact on attracting visitors,” and restaurant owners expressing “concern about losses with the mandatory closure at one o’clock.” Sources in the Chamber of Tourism sought to “amend closing times” before the instructions were issued, while “the governorate’s office refused to comment or clarify the possibility of generalizing the decision to other governorates.”
Economically, Abdullah al-Dahman estimated “a decline in tourism revenues of up to 15% in the worst-case scenarios,” while merchants in Al-Hariqa and Al-Salihiya saw that “the new durations are commensurate with the market movement and rationalize energy consumption, especially after the two electricity decisions at the end of last month, which raised the tariff by about 70 times and coincided with a decline in purchasing power.” (Al Jazeera)
