Bad Neuenahr, Cologne, Dusseldorf A lack of foreign guests, an impending increase in VAT in the catering trade, a destroyed holiday region on the Ahr: These are just three examples of the concerns that Germany’s hoteliers, tour operators and restaurateurs are currently dealing with. The hopes in the planned “National Tourism Strategy” of the Federal Ministry of Economics are correspondingly high. “To strengthen the competitiveness and crisis resilience of the tourism industry” is their declared goal.
With the Munich management consultancy Dr. Fried & Partner even hired an external service provider to set up a “National Platform for the Future of Tourism” a few days before the kick-off event last week. The tourism committee of the Bundestag drummed up important industry representatives such as the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry (BTW), the German Travel Association (DRV) and the travel agency organization VUSR to ask about their concerns for the future strategy.
But Habeck’s kick-off causes disappointment. Under no circumstances will he fly on vacation this year, the minister announced to the top representatives of German tourism associations. Instead of polluting the climate, the Germans should stay at home, in his place of residence near Flensburg it is also quite nice.
Hotels and restaurants are facing a sharp increase in VAT
The travel industry does not see their worries being taken seriously. It is a significant economic factor: In Germany, it turns over around 330 billion euros a year, accounts for four percent of German value creation and, according to calculations by the BTW, provides one in eleven jobs directly or indirectly. But that is not mentioned in Habeck’s plans for the future.
Instead, at least that’s what members of the tourism committee in the Bundestag say, he is promising the industry CO2 taxes and fines if environmental requirements are not met. “A grotesque event and a complete waste of time,” reported one participant at the opening event. Others spoke of a “pipe burst”.
The industry has by no means recovered from the Corona slump. Just 76 percent of the overnight stay level of 2019 was achieved last year. Dieter Janecek (Greens), the federal government’s coordinator for tourism, had already caused irritation at the ITB travel fair in mid-March.
He failed to provide the vacation providers with answers to the urgent question of how things should go up in their mostly highly indebted companies. And the demand for decarbonization contained in his greeting rather unsettled the industry.
The upcoming VAT increase is also causing uncertainty. If the then Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) reduced the tax rate on food from 19 to seven percent right at the beginning of the pandemic, the reduction will probably be canceled again from the beginning of 2024.
From the point of view of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga), this is an additional burden that can hardly be borne. “In view of the enormous cost increases for food, energy and salaries, a lack of employees and the repayment of loans due to the pandemic, the challenges for the companies could hardly be greater,” complains Managing Director Jürgen Benad.
Hardly any help for tourism in the Ahr Valley
Labor law is also a problem for German hotels and restaurants. The industry has always struggled to get by with the legal maximum of ten hours of working time per day, and mandatory time recording prevents flexible solutions in individual cases. “If we don’t want to ring additional employees out of bed,” criticizes Dorint Supervisory Board Chairman Dirk Iserlohe, “we have wedding events in our hotels from one o’clock in the morning.”
Instead of the rigid working time regulations, Iserlohe – like many in the industry – would like flexible weekly working hours, which could also alleviate the shortage of skilled workers. But the “National Platform for the Future of Tourism” wants to discuss the staff gaps that Corona has left in the industry until 2025.
The Federal Minister of Economics met with a lack of understanding in the tourism industry with his climate course.
(Photo: dpa)
Fast support is also desired in the Ahr Valley, which was extensively destroyed by a devastating flood in mid-July 2021. Last fall, Habeck announced better coordination for reconstruction in the Bundestag’s Tourism Committee. So far, nothing is known about Habeck’s work in the popular holiday region, which before the catastrophe had an annual tourism turnover of 260 million euros. “I think it is questionable whether a federal commissioner will still be used,” says hotelier Günter Uhl, who heads the Dehoga district association in Ahrweiler. “It would definitely make sense.”
The mood is bad in many other holiday areas in Germany. Despite the waning pandemic, guests from abroad in particular are staying away. In March, arrivals were still 15 percent below the 2019 figures. The federal government is not innocent of this. A dramatic situation in German consulates is currently preventing tourist visas from being issued on time in important source markets such as South Africa, China, India, the Gulf States, Vietnam, Indonesia or Thailand.
CO2 savings target for travel
In India, for example, the German authorities recently needed 16 weeks to allocate appointments. “Tourists from overseas are therefore looking for other destinations in Europe,” reports CDU tourism spokeswoman Anja Karliczek. “They then travel mainly to France, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland, which issue Schengen visas for tourists and business travelers quickly and relatively easily.”
>> Read also: China’s tourists stay away – this is how Europe’s holiday regions react
Karliczek’s small question in the Bundestag was answered by a state secretary from Annalena Baerbock (Greens): “Due to the different capacities of the visa offices of the Schengen states in China and a very different volume of travelers”, she wrote, “despite all efforts, different prioritization decisions can sometimes lead to different visa allocation practices among the Schengen States.”
For Germany, the world’s third most important travel destination after Italy and Spain – ahead of France and the USA – there is a lot at stake in the face of such a fatality. The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) counted just 68.1 million overnight stays by foreign guests in Germany in 2022, 24 percent fewer than before the pandemic.
However, the Federal Ministry of Economics does not attach great importance to the return of holiday guests from overseas. The GNTB, which has been marketing Germany as a travel destination on his behalf since 1948 and received 34.5 million euros in state money for it last year, received clear instructions from Habeck: “As part of its campaigns, it should work towards promoting the use of more CO2-efficient means of transport such as trains and buses Bus for the journey to Germany (…) more to the fore”, he formulated in the work program for the “National Tourism Strategy”.
Before the flood disaster, the Ahr Valley was a well-visited destination. Tourist companies are still waiting for the announced help.
(Photo: imago images/Reiner Zensen)
Tourism politicians like Anja Karliczek consider this questionable: “The new requirement gives rise to fears of neglect and less presence in overseas source markets with particularly affluent customers.”
Markus Heller, project manager at the consulting firm Dr. Fried & Partner opposes this. The Economics Minister is by no means concerned with saving the environment by avoiding tourism, says the Munich consultant. It is important to Habeck “to prevent a clear-cutting of resources and to lead the phenomenon of mass tourism on a sustainable path.”
When asked by the Federal Ministry of Economics, a spokeswoman argued that tourism in Germany was not spared the consequences of the global climate crisis. This was proven by the shortened winter sports season with little snowfall: “Hardly any other branch of industry is so dependent on the preservation of an intact environment.”
>> Read also: Holidays 2023 in danger – lack of staff at popular travel destinations
It remains to be seen whether this can ultimately improve the competitiveness of German holiday providers – this is also a goal of the “National Tourism Strategy”. So far, the commitment to more sustainability and climate protection in the booking business has only helped holiday providers to a limited extent, as the “States of Mind Travel Report” by the insurer Allianz recently showed. There, 41 percent of those surveyed stated that they were aware of the environmental impact of travel. Yet only one in five travelers said they were willing to pay more to offset their carbon footprint.
More: After Corona lockdown – How the Dorint supervisory board chairman Dirk Iserlohe fights for compensation