The number of overnight stays in the tourism industry in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has recovered more than expected. The industry association expects a double-digit increase for the year as a whole.
Rostock (dpa/mv) - From the point of view of the tourism association, the year 2022 went better than expected. "Permanent and complex crises put pressure on the mood and sometimes made business appear worse than it actually was," said managing director Tobias Woitendorf on Wednesday. In addition to the war in Ukraine, he mentioned the energy crisis and the shortage of workers. These have a negative impact on the prospects for the coming year.
Nevertheless, the association expects a significant increase in overnight stays of more than 20 percent to around 32 million in 2022. "It felt different due to the many hardships. But if the forecast were to be confirmed, 2022 would be the second best year for tourism," said Woitendorf. The pre-pandemic year 2019 holds the top spot.
Based on the figures published so far between January and September, the north-east ranks fourth in the federal states.
According to the information, the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast in particular benefited from the recovery after the corona easing in the summer. By September, the number of overnight stays had risen by 40 percent to 7.6 million. Rügen and Usedom followed with an increase of 26 and 25 percent to 5.5 and 4.7 million.
In the other regions, the recovery was somewhat weaker during this period, including in the Mecklenburg Lake District. According to the association, however, the camping segment, which is important in the region, reached a peak in 2022 and exceeded the result of 2019 by 2.6 percent. The campsites in the lake district counted 1.03 million overnight stays.
The number of international guests fell well short of expectations. With around 670,000 overnight stays in the first three quarters, around a third fewer people came to the northeast than in the pre-Corona period. "The need to catch up is significantly higher in the international area than in the overall view of tourism in MV," it said.
For the coming year, the association hopes that the completion of the Königsweg on Rügen and the pier in Prerow will attract visitors. A focus will also be placed on the topic of cycling, especially on the Berlin-Copenhagen long-distance cycle route.
