Germany’s holiday regions fear their decline

Dusseldorf The relief in Germany’s hotel and restaurant industry lasted just one month. The Federal Statistical Office announced in mid-October that for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, industry sales across Germany had returned to the pre-pandemic level in August. With 57.8 million overnight stays, the accommodation industry even exceeded August 2019 by 0.6 percent.

But by the time it was published, the mood had long since changed. Gas and petrol price shocks, drastically rising food costs and the associated concerns for the future on the part of consumers put an abrupt end to the brief boom.

In September, restaurant and hotel sales fell seven percent below the pre-crisis level. The accumulated revenues for the first nine months of 2022 were even down by ten percent compared to 2019, as the industry association Dehoga calculates.