Tourism in danger! Hotelier warns of drastic losses in Germany

Rolf Seelige-Steinhoff warnt vor Herausforderungen in der Hotelbranche: steigende Kosten, sinkende Buchungen und wachsendes Insolvenzrisiko.
Rolf Seelige-Steinhoff warns of challenges in the hotel industry: rising costs, falling bookings and growing risk of bankruptcy. (Symbolbild/UH)

Tourism in danger! Hotelier warns of drastic losses in Germany

In the German hotel and tourism industry, it is currently bubbling tremendously. Rolf Seelige-Steinhoff, a prominent hotelier and tourism official, expresses his concern about the dark perspective for inner-German tourism. While many can still earn well and can afford vacations, he sees the risk of a larger job cut, which could particularly affect the popular holiday regions on coasts and in the mountains as well as the entire industry. "The signs are clear," he fears, "the rising costs due to wages, energy prices and procurement costs put under pressure our companies," says Seelige-Steinhoff in a recent report by Regio " Journal .

Seelige-Steinhoff reports on annual cost increases between 12 and 14 percent, which must make adjustments to the prices. From April 2024, a significant decline in the bookings in his Hotels will be determined, which led to loss of around two million euros within just three and a half months. "Guests are sensitive to price increases, and the willingness to spend money on vacation," he warns.

positive developments and challenges

Statista , the total number of tourist arrivals in Germany was in 2024 with impressive 37.5 million and thus made Germany one of the top 10 countries worldwide in this segment. Germany follows Spain within Europe and shows that domestic tourism is booming. The tourism sector contributes around 420 billion euros to the German economic strength.

The sales in the accommodation industry rose from 33.7 billion euros to EUR 38.7 billion in the last financial year, which shows that the sector is recovering quickly. With around 1.8 million workers in the tourism and hospitality industry, mostly women, the employment situation after the corona pandemic is more positive. But the challenges remain not least due to the sunken interest in training positions, which is due to low wages.

The way forward

Future -oriented measures are the order of the day to increase the competitiveness of the sector. The Federal Ministry of Economics emphasizes the need for sustainably designed tourism, income, employment as well as climate and environmental protection. An important goal is to make tourism resilient against any crises. The focus is on the transition path to the tourism ecosystem in order to advance digital and green transformation and to keep the sector competitive in the long term.

social sustainability also plays an important role, as the Palma ministerial declaration shows in October 2023. Here, political actors strive for regular inventory and clear focus of action for 2024, which aim at investments in further training and the expansion of data availability.

The challenges of German tourism should not be underestimated, but there is a lot of potential. A good knack in pricing and innovative approaches to increase the bookings could bring the industry on the right track. So tourism remains a central topic that carries both opportunities and risks.

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