The article says 70% of the establishments were in favor of the ban, however, why didn't they just go ahead and do it? Because they believe having the ban be universal is the only way they'll get the business of smokers. They believe that other businesses that allow smoking are stealing "their" customers, and they want to stop that.
I am reminded here, btw, of a restaurant called the "Cream Top Tavern" which opened up across from the campus of University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The owners were laughably inept, and when a popular restaurant, Randy's, was firebombed, people would joke that it was probably the Cream Top restauranteurs that did it. What's crazy is that the jokesters were right.
The owners of the Cream Top Tavern had indeed firebombed Randy, believing that it was responsible for their lack of business. They couldn't possibly imagine that they might lack for business because...
- University lunch breaks are not long enough for people to spend over an hour in a restaurant, even one directly across the street. Even though Randy's was over a mile away, people could still go there, get food, and return much faster than they could get a meal at the Cream Top.
- Customers who show up for dinner didn't appreciate that most of the items on the dinner menu are unavailable until after 10:00pm [yes you read that right--people who eat dinner at normal times were basically limitted to burgers].
- They were unwilling to accept any polite suggestions from people who would like to have a quick lunch, or have dinner at a 'normal' hour.
Needless to say, the Cream Top Tavern did not experience any meaningful increase in business as a result of their shutting down Randy's for a few weeks, even before its owners role in the firebombing was discovered (Randy's did reopen, and there's still a Randy's in Whitewater though I don't know if it's the same ownership). The owners believed that if they eliminated the competition everyone would flock to their door; somehow, though, that just didn't happen.
Returning to the subject of smoking: I would expect that the only restaurants which would likely benefit from the smoking ban are either drive-ins (a smoking ban for patrons' automobiles would likely be unenforceable), drive-throughs, or other takeout places. I would expect smokers would be far more likely to shift their business away from sit-down restaurants in general than to shift it to businesses which pushed for the smoking ban.
In the places I go where smoking is universally verboten, there are always a few places where the rules are either not enforced or openly flaunted. They are always packed with business. The bars that enforce the smoking ban are generally empty, or have transitory traffic. People come in for one beer, but leave. Nobody stays for very long.
There is a place in San Carlos, CA that I know and they just give the finger to the law. They're doing a bangup business.
There is a place in Boulder, CO (where there is a city ordinance that bans smoking pretty much everywhere) that is just plain hysterical. Every hour on the hour they make an announcement over the PA system that "smoking is not allowed withing the city limits, please extinguish any smoking materials". Nevermind that the bartender making the announcement is smoking at the time. Nevermind that EVERYONE in the place is smoking. Nevermind that the place is packed to the gills and every other tavern in town is going under.
The cops roll through every other hour or so, looking for these scofflaws and hardened criminals that DARE to actually defy the will of the MOMMYS in the town council. Everybody cups their smokes and continues to shoot pool. Life goes on.
That's an interesting story.
I would expect that the only restaurants which would likely benefit from the smoking ban
If there's a market for it (non-smoking restaurants) the market should decide. I live in Tokyo where a greater percentage of the population smokes. Restaurants are free to decide whether to permit smoking or not. Non-smoking restaurants exist and they don't seem to be closing down. If it can work here, it can work there too.