“No hotel survives another closure” – Economy –

The official closure due to the crown pandemic ends on May 29. To date, however, there has been a puzzle as to what requirements the industry must meet. The limits are also. “We are really completely up in the air,” said hotel association president Michaela Reitterer in an interview with APA.

“It is still not entirely clear what happens if you have a crown box at the hotel. Do I have to shut down the kitchen, quarantine all the staff or just part of it?” A higher level of testing options would also be required here: according to Reitterer, employees should be able to be reviewed every week. “Because no hotel survives another closure, it is clear,” says the head of ÖHV, who runs a hotel in Vienna.

The damage that has already been caused by the one week stoppage does not remain. The country’s borders, which remain closed indefinitely, are also disturbing, because tourism in Austria depends on foreign countries, especially on German tourists: almost three-quarters of the nights come from there. Urban tourism suffers particularly badly. “In Vienna we have 14 percent national participation in July and August,” said Reitterer.

“The current disorientation is really difficult,” said the President of ÖHV. In his opinion, companies would need short-term work by 2021, not just three months. “Why can’t you apply for twelve months when we already know we need it for a year,” asks the hotel manager. “We are asking for a tailored model for the hotel industry,” the government said.

The houses are never filled with increasing roller beams. The big rush will not happen. “In principle, people will be reluctant to travel,” says tourism expert at the Economic Research Institute (Wifo), Oliver Fritz, in fear of infection, unemployment and job loss. In view of the crisis, many employees should have already cut their vacations. “These are all factors of uncertainty, but on the other hand, people want to get out,” Fritz said.

Industry, which is important to the entire economy, quickly needs a complete set of aid measures. “Time is a critical factor,” said the economic researcher. The support the government already has is, according to Reitterer, very bureaucratic. “You expect money forever.” There is a need for optimization, confirmed the Wifo expert. Despite 100 percent state liability, banks need collateral for their loans, otherwise the state could blame them for bankruptcy that they had not properly verified.

“All of this could be saved by giving more grants instead of loans,” Fritz suggested. They are not refundable and the banks would be outside. “It would help quickly and without bureaucracy,” said the president of ÖHV. The government has already promised grants for ongoing fixed costs and for perishables that must be canceled. “There is nothing more perishable than a hotel room, if you don’t sell it in a day, it disappears, more perishable than a head of lettuce,” said Reitterer.

A “very good instrument to support companies” would also be a “pass-through of losses,” suggested the head of ÖHV. “We will make a loss this year,” she is sure. The hotelière also called for “temporary suspensions or reductions in salary tax or sales tax.” In addition to the sales tax screw, the depreciation screw could also be turned, Fritz added. “You have to do it incredibly fast, summer is coming.”

Little had happened when demand increased. The recently launched idea of ​​handing out vouchers to Austrians for vacations in their own country “was still very underdeveloped and not yet on the implementation side.” The national tourism marketing organization Österreich Werbung (ÖW) will start the big national holiday home campaign from June 1st. “The potential is actually very large: we have 68 million overnight stays that Austrians spend abroad each year,” said the Wifo expert. “You just have to try to get as much out of the pond as possible.” That could become a survival strategy for some companies: “the demand that will help them survive this year.”