With curfew in place until December 11th, cancelled Christmas markets and Covid-19 restrictions most Hungarian shopkeepers are pessimistic about the Christmas period. A recent survey by Hungary’s national news agency MTI suggested that this number could stand at 61%, with many stores not even making it past the “open up” date and already declaring themselves bankrupt. Other studies suggest that one of the reasons for shopkeepers not to look forward to the upcoming “shopping season” is the fact that many customers have already declared they don’t want to expose themselves to the dangers of shopping, and would prefer to make online purchases. Budapest has already tried to limit the financial damage caused to businessmen, by creating an online platform for their regular traders at the annual Christmas markets.
