CALGARY – Alberta restaurant operators are the only ones in the country not feeling a sense of optimism about the future, according to a recent survey from Restaurants Canada.
“Thirty-eight per cent of respondents in Alberta believe their sales will decelerate over the next six months while just 25 per cent expect sales to accelerate,” said the Restaurant Outlook Survey for the first quarter of 2015.
The report cited the decline in oil prices as having a “significant impact on economic activity and job creation in the province in 2015 and 2016.”
This compares to the record 46 per cent of restaurant operators in the rest of Canada who expect same-store sales to accelerate over the next six months. Only 14 per cent of respondents country-wide expected a deceleration; “the lowest level since Restaurants Canada began the Restaurant Outlook Survey in 2011,” said the report.
The survey suggested a combination of lower gas prices and a weaker Canadian dollar as factors that could boost sales and tourism over the summer.
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