The corona pandemic seems to be taking a break and so many people are drawn abroad again during their vacation. The Saxon holiday regions would like to keep tourists in the state - this is only partially successful.
Dresden (dpa/sn) - Holiday guests wanted: After two years of the corona pandemic, the competition for guests in the Saxon tourist regions flared up again this summer. The number of guests and overnight stays from before the pandemic is often not reached again, according to a survey by the German Press Agency in the tourist regions. After the regions were able to benefit from the fact that many people spent their holidays in their home regions because of the pandemic in recent years, many of them are traveling abroad again this year.
"The summer season is going well," said the managing director of Dresden Marketing GmbH, Corinne Miseer. This can be seen in the city and the hoteliers said so too. Nevertheless, the level of overnight stays and room occupancy from 2019 has not yet been reached again. The drop in overnight stays in Dresden and the surrounding area in May compared to the same month in 2019 was almost 20 percent. Room occupancy was 13.6 percentage points lower. In June 2022, the occupancy rate was 68.4 percent, in June 2019 it was 78.7 percent. The effects of the corona crisis, the Ukraine war and inflation are noticeable, said Miseer. Above all, the lack of workers and rising energy costs are causing great concern for the tourism industry.
According to Miseer, the summer of 2022 is "clearly characterized by active holidays." In the city of Dresden and the Elbland region, guests can choose from hiking and cycling to stand-up paddling on the Elbe or letting off steam in the climbing forest. Because of the many sunny days, open-air events in 2022 are particularly in demand.
With almost 331,700 overnight stays in Leipzig, May 2022 just surpassed that of 2019. At that time, about 330,650 overnight stays were counted. The number was already higher in April than in 2019. "If there are no setbacks, 2022 will be a very good year," said Volker Bremer, Managing Director of Leipzig Tourism and Marketing GmbH. The willingness to travel and bookings have increased significantly since mid-April. In May, tens of thousands of visitors traveled to Leipzig, mainly because of festivals such as the German Choir Festival, the Leipzig City Festival, the Wave Gotik Treffen or the Leipzig Bach Festival. "June and July should also have gone very well from a tourism point of view." The nine-euro ticket also had a positive effect, it said. There have been a lot of bookings at short notice.
The Chemnitzer Wirtschaftsförderungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH has identified an increasing number of guests in the city, especially in the conference and congress area. In the purely tourist area, it is currently difficult to take stock, it said. In the hotels, the observation is made that German tourists outweigh those from abroad.
According to a spokeswoman for the tourism association, the demand for a summer vacation in the Ore Mountains is "not as high as we were able to register last year." There are still places available in hotels, guesthouses and private holiday accommodation. Many travelers apparently wanted to spend their annual vacation in more distant areas after two years of the pandemic. "For the coming days we hope to book spontaneously," said the spokeswoman. "Especially because of the beautiful summer weather." Outdoor activities such as cycling and hiking are particularly in demand.
"We hope to reach the numbers of 2019 again during the summer months," said the managing director of the Vogtland tourism association, Andreas Kraus. Sustainability and holidays in nature are trendy and the Vogtland with its forests, dams, lakes and natural pools and spas has a lot to offer.
In Saxon Switzerland, the forest fire in the national park stopped the upswing. The tourism association had actually hoped for overnight stays like 2018 for 2022, 7 percent below the record year 2019. "Saxon Switzerland was well booked, even though accommodation was still available in all price ranges," said Mandy Krebs from the tourism association. But the forest fires in the national park and the ban on entering the forests changed everything. "So what we urgently need is rain, because without the lifting of the ban on entering the forest, we will be missing an essential offer, namely hiking."
