It’s perfect beer garden weather and “staycation” is the buzzword of the summer, but that still might not be enough to save Germany’s hospitality industry from the effects of the coronavirus lockdown. As many as 60 percent of hotel and restaurant owners believe their business is on the verge of bankruptcy, according to a new survey. 

Sales fell by 60,1 percent in the first half of the year

Almost 60 percent of the operators of restaurants and hotels now see the coronavirus crisis as a threat to their existence. This was the result of a survey by the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) of 7.200 restaurateurs. 59,6 percent said they were struggling for survival because of the consequences of the pandemic. 

For the period from January to July 2020, respondents recorded an average loss of 60,1 percent in sales compared to the same period in the previous year. The losses were highest in April (86,8 percent) and May (73,7 percent). The situation has improved since June, but restaurateurs are still only taking in around half the sales of the previous year. In July, the loss was around 43,2 percent. 

Dehoga’s general manager, Ingrid Hartges, already warned back in April that 70.000 of the 223.000 hotel and restaurant businesses in Germany were threatened with bankruptcy - the equivalent of one in three. In April, sales fell by around 10 billion euros. 

Coronavirus crisis disrupts boom in German tourism industry

The coronavirus crisis has disrupted a boom in the German tourism industry that has been going for the last eleven years. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) the number of overnight stays in Germany by domestic and foreign guests fell to 117,5 million from January to June - 47,1 percent less than in the same period of the previous year.

Most recently, the slump has not been so severe, thanks to the loosening of restrictions for hotels, vacation rentals and campsites - the decrease in June was only 41,7 percent, compared to 74,9 percent in May. However, the industry fears further setbacks due to the rising number of new infections. City and conference hotels, on the other hand, have hardly received any guests with major events like trade fairs, congresses and meetings not taking place. 

According to a survey by the economic research institute Ifo, businesses in Germany still expect public life to be restricted for another 8,5 months, on average - and leisure and gastronomy businesses are even more cautious. Companies in the leisure industry expect restrictions for another 13 months, while gastronomy businesses are reckoning with another 11 months of reduced turnover.