Black Forest, Lake Constance, Swabian Alb: Tourism is a major economic factor in the southwest. Corona was not only a shock for the guest companies. The full extent of the crisis is now becoming visible in a new study.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - According to a study, the corona pandemic has torn a billion-dollar hole in the coffers of southwest tourism. According to this, gross sales in 2021 were almost 7.6 billion euros below the figure for 2019. With a total of 17.8 billion euros, guests in Baden-Württemberg spent almost a third less than before the crisis. This is the result of an analysis published on Monday by the German Economic Institute for Tourism (dwif), which is prepared every two years on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Economics in Baden-Württemberg.
The study documents the drastic economic effects of the corona pandemic with figures and data, said Secretary of State for Tourism Patrick Rapp (CDU). "According to current calculations, tourism in Baden-Württemberg recorded weekly sales losses of around 145.3 million euros in 2021." Even if the industry was initially able to recover in 2022, new uncertainties are associated with the war in Ukraine. Tourism is also having an impact on other industries in the country, Rapp said.
According to the figures, the slump in sales in the hospitality industry was particularly severe with a drop of almost 40 percent. But retail and other service sectors also suffered from the significantly lower number of guests and recorded a drop in income of 19 and 28 percent. And while arithmetically 380,000 people were still able to live from tourism before the pandemic, this number fell to 250,000. It is to be feared that the majority of the employees who have emigrated will not return to the industry, said Rapp.
The lion's share of the income came from day visitors in 2021 as well: they left around 10.3 billion euros in Baden-Württemberg. That was around 17 percent less than in 2019. Bans on accommodation and other corona measures hit the office even harder for overnight guests: Here, sales fell by around 42 percent and were still at 5.4 billion euros in 2021. Overnight stays in private households brought in an additional 2 billion euros. That was 10 percent less than in 2019.
