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Restless guests, frustrated hoteliers – controversial accommodation bans are a burden on domestic tourism. Will the new federal state Corona rules become job killers in the hotel industry?
By Philipp Jaklin, tagesschau.de
Calling guests arriving from a corona risk area, Paul Berberich no longer has to do that. Accommodation is also prohibited in the Neckar-Odenwald district in Baden-Württemberg, where your Hotel Frankenbrunnen has hosted mainly national guests for 38 years. But since last week it’s over. The Berberich family business had to declare bankruptcy.
“Since mid-September we have only received cancellations,” says Berberich. The rising number of infections spooked the 27-room hotel’s main clientele: the “best old men,” seniors who love to travel and who take a bus to the Odenwald and are served special menus in the evening. “Nobody wanted to take a bus trip anymore. We had to pull the rope.”
Only 40 percent utilization
His hotel could have lasted a month or two, thanks in part to financial aid from the state, Berberich says. But on average, the occupancy rate was only around 40 percent during the season, instead of the normal 90 percent. The business can no longer be planned at all, so he didn’t see any prospects for his company. His six employees are about to be laid off.
The Hotel Frankenbrunnen is one of the hotels in the hotel industry that has already been particularly affected by the Corona crisis, and for which accommodation bans in many federal states are now robbing the last hope of a speedy recovery. So far, people still traveling in Corona times are traveling in their own country. As more and more German metropolises have been considered risk zones, Germany has also had the status of a danger zone. With potentially fatal consequences for the hotel industry.
Right now you can see a “violent wave of cancellations,” says Ingrid Hartges, general manager of the Dehoga industry association. The strict requirements for travelers, who must submit a negative corona test no longer than 48 hours, if they are coming from Berlin or Bremen, for example, are too dissuasive. “The situation is dire,” Hartges said. “I have very worried business people on the phone.”
Accommodation bans are disproportionate and unhelpful, criticizes Hartges. Hotels have invested massively in hygiene and crown protection measures. There is no evidence that traveling in Germany has contributed significantly to an increase in the number of infections.
The TUI travel group speaks of great uncertainty among its guests. The rooms have also been canceled. However, at the same time, there are new reserves of guests from regions with a rather low increase in the number of infections. Overall, a “trend towards last minute bookings” can be observed, according to the company that owns seven hotels in Germany.
Prominent victims of the crisis
The first half of the year was catastrophic for the industry, which, however, also had to cope with the consequences of the total shutdown. The number of overnight stays plummeted by more than 47 percent and almost 127,000 companies registered part-time jobs. Many houses were victims of the crisis, including hotels at prominent addresses such as the Hessischer Hof in Frankfurt or the Sofitel Berlin-Kurfürstendamm.
Is a wave of hotel bankruptcies across Germany a threat? Hartges believes that housing bans could significantly accelerate the crisis, especially in cities. “There is no new business at this time.” The hotelier from Odenwald Berberich fears that the crisis “will cost the industry many more jobs.”
Tourism researcher Helmut Wachowiak also sees accommodation bans as a “serious problem”, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. The industry had high hopes of doing business with domestic tourism during the fall holidays. Now the uncertainty is great, especially since such restrictions were not expected to travel through their own country.
Federal Finance Minister Peter Altmaier gives the hotel industry hope for additional help. He doesn’t want “family businesses to give up and disappear and eventually we end up with fast food chains.” After massive, even political criticism, accommodation bans are said to be a problem again on Wednesday when Chancellor Angela Merkel consults with state prime ministers.
Multiple lawsuits
To support businesses, it would be conceivable, for example, for the federal government to extend bridging aid for small businesses beyond December 31. Dehoga’s managing director, Hartges, demands the complete lifting of housing bans. If that is not enforced, there must be at least clear and understandable rules for all of Germany. “Companies have to know what they are doing.”
Otherwise, the hotels now await the courts. According to Hartges, several companies have a lawsuit against the ongoing bans. One has already been sent.
