The end of the overnight stay ban for tourists in Germany is pushing the business of hotels and guest houses. However, the industry is far from a sustainable recovery.
Despite the relaxation of the corona restrictions, tourism in Germany is still deep in crisis. It is true that the number of overnight stays by guests from home and abroad rose in June.
However, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office, hotels, guest houses and the like are far from pre-crisis levels. The half-year results were also gloomy. The German Hotel and Restaurant Association Dehoga fears for the existence of many businesses. The food-enjoyment-restaurants union (NGG) warned of an exodus of skilled workers from the industry.
According to preliminary information from the Federal Statistical Office on Tuesday, the number of overnight stays by travelers rose by 6.1 percent to 30.9 million in June compared to the same month last year. The ban on tourist overnight stays was gradually lifted in May, depending on the Corona situation in the federal states. Compared to June 2019, however, hotels, guest houses and other accommodation providers with at least ten beds recorded a significant decrease of 39 percent.
In the first half of 2021, the number of overnight stays fell by 34.7 percent to 76.4 million compared to the same period of the previous year. This is mainly due to the fact that at the beginning of 2020, before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, accommodation facilities were still open without restriction for almost three months.
Tourism is one of the industries hit particularly hard by the pandemic. According to Dehoga, hotels and restaurants in holiday regions have recently reported good demand. City and conference hotels, event caterers, as well as clubs and discos, however, continued to complain about significant sales shortfalls. According to a recently published Dehoga survey, 23.6 percent of the hotels and restaurants surveyed see themselves concretely about to close down.
The NGG trade union fears that skilled workers will emigrate. “The crisis in the hotel and restaurant industry is going on longer than feared,” said NGG chairman Guido Zeitler. “If there are no clear prospects for hotel employees and chefs, tens of thousands more employees could leave the hospitality industry in the next few months.” The employers should now negotiate a future plan for the industry together with the NGG and make their contribution to improving working conditions.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
