The hospitality industry has just mastered the Corona crisis with oh and noisy, now everything should get better. But exorbitant energy prices are getting hotels and bars into trouble. Some may soon decide to take drastic action.
Neuss (dpa / lnw) - Because energy costs are going through the roof, some innkeepers and hoteliers in North Rhine-Westphalia are considering a temporary closure. The industry is "also considering whether it might become economically necessary to close operations over the winter months," said the President of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) NRW, Patrick Rothkopf, the dpa. Increases in energy costs of several hundred percent "can neither be saved nor passed on through price adjustments". A Duisburg hotelier recently told WAZ that he would close in winter because of energy costs.
Dehoga Regional President Rothkopf reported growing uncertainty in the hospitality industry regarding the design of state aid measures. He appealed to politicians to create clarity as quickly as possible and to ensure planning security. "Energy must flow and remain affordable, above all against the background of the still noticeable effects of the pandemic with depleted reserves and loans taken out," said Rothkopf and called for an "energy rescue package for medium-sized companies".
