Shisha ban good for health but bad for business

“I hate driving 20 miles for shisha,” said an exasperated Amjad Younas, a resident of the Eastern Province. Speaking in the aftermath of the ban on shisha-smoking in public which has gradually taken hold over the past four years, Younas is voicing the frustrations of many here who miss the old days of smoking shisha at their favorite restaurants or cafes in the city.
The ban has forced young shisha enthusiasts to visit licensed shisha parlors in the suburbs, often far from their homes.
Abdullah Shahid, a student and a shisha lover complains, “We often drive to Janadriyah or Aziziyah to smoke shisha and, on most days, it proves to be really inconvenient.
“There’s already not much to do here and smoking shisha used to be fun. Now, even for that we have to plan it out and then go specifically for the purpose of doing just that.”
Many, like Fahd Khalid and his friends, however, now choose to make their own shisha rather than going out for it. “We now make our own shisha at home or outside. We often drive down to Half Moon Beach and have a barbeque and smoke shisha.
So the ban hasn’t really affected us that much because we have other options,” Khalid said.
However, as expected, the financial impact of the ban has most affected cafe and restaurant owners who have suffered massive losses. Some have even gone out of business owing largely to the regulations on shisha smoking.
An official from a popular luxury hotel in Alkhobar said, “We lost about 60 percent of our business when our restaurant stopped serving shisha four years ago. It hit us really bad even though we tried several promotions after that to attract customers. It just isn’t the same anymore.”
Many others, like a cafe owner in Dammam, believe that the decision was unexpected and therefore left many people who had taken loans to open their businesses at a loss.
“Shisha is extremely popular here and a lot of coffee shops were operating mainly on the revenue generated from that. The ban was unexpected and created a lot of problems financially for owners who had loans or who had just started their business,” he said.
Conversely, the ban has proved to be hugely popular with parents who were previously worried about their children smoking shisha from an early age because of easy access to it.
“I have young children and I used to worry about them being around so much smoke when they went out.
“Now, at least, I know that if they go for dinner with their friends they won’t be smoking shisha,” said a very relieved Mrs. Saqib, a resident of Dammam.
Others, like Siddiqui, another Dammam resident, are still apprehensive.
“I do believe the ban was good because it makes it harder for youngsters to smoke shisha. At the same time, I also think that those who really want to do it can still make it at home or go elsewhere for it.
“The ban can’t really stop people from doing it entirely so instead I think the government should focus on creating awareness among people and tell them why it’s unhealthy to do it in the first place.”