March 2021, marks the first anniversary of the first COVID-19 lockdown. This pandemic took all of us by surprise, the hospitality and the tourism industries were hit very hard.
Unfortunately, many businesses and restaurants are still affected and it is extremely tragic that we still have to deal with this pandemic.
In Dubai, after the 3-month lockdown, the future looked very dark for us, as it has always been a state that thrives on tourism.
The Lockdown regulations of different countries made it almost impossible to travel. However, we starting to see a bit of light.
Dubai has been one of the earliest countries in the world to welcome and open its borders for travelers and tourists and many restaurants in the UAE made record sales and had a record number of guests.
At Italtouch, after the desperate months of struggle, we had boom sales of truffles and caviar that somehow balanced the year 2020. In fact, it turned out to be almost a positive year.
The future is always uncertain but I consider myself lucky living in Dubai. The UAE government took a very aggressive stance against COVID-19 with a massive vaccination campaign and hopes that soon the virus will be contained and starting to see the aviation industry open up flights to more countries which will help the F&B industry return to life.
I wanted to talk about this first and to pay respect to the people, families, and friends who have suffered tremendous losses.
We are approaching the summer truffle season and I hope that this year there will be copious rain to feed white truffle pores to have a great white truffle season next autumn 2021.
All the best and stay safe! The Truffleman – Massimo Vidoni
article by: Massimo Vidoni
photo credit: Italtouch, Dubai