The implementation of smoke-free legislation is often met with opposition from those who believe that smoke-free legislation will have a negative impact on business revenue. Research indicates that numerous jurisdictions across the world have successfully implemented complete smoking bans in cities, provinces/states and countries with minimal and/or short-term impact on business revenue. For example, New Zealand and Ireland have experienced great success in terms of compliance with 100% smoke-free policies and exhibited little to no impact on business bottom-line.

The Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco (http://www.ocat.org/) has compiled a list of studies and research papers that support the implementation of smoke-free legislation, by proving that economic impact on businesses is a non-issue in many jurisdictions. In some cases places like New York City saw an increase in hospitality revenue following the implementation of a complete smoke-free ordinance.

Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco